Two-Sided Awakening
by Hawkright-01121999
Summary: What would you do if you woke up in the middle of a scorching desert, no civilization for miles on end, and no memory at all? In my case, I got kidnapped. MaleQuasi-SIOC! FemaleRobin! The first chapter contains gore but the rest will be humor, adventure, and romance cause future kids. Rated M for the gore in the first chapter, swearing, and Tharja. Pairings decided.
1. Chapter 1: A White Moon

**Two-Sided Awakening**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem nor anything belonging to them, that right belongs to Nintendo Systems. The only thing I own are my own original character/s and ideas I create for the story.**

 **Author's Note: Well here we are again with another started fanfic that will either be released and not reach 40k words, or it won't be launched at all and will stay deep within the recess of my computer hard drive. Either way, enjoy!**

 **On with the story.**

* * *

Everyone remembers.

What is it that they remember?

Well, that was entirely up to who that person was and what they lived through, what they'd experienced throughout their lives.

For myself, the only thing I knew was **pain**.

Pain.

Pain.

Pain.

That's all I knew.

Before that?

All I could remember before the pain was what led me to the pain.

* * *

(Flashback)

 _A sandy desert spread as far as the eye could see, as far as_ I _could see as I slowly cooked alive faced down in the scorching dunes. My mind going in and out of focus. The sun blazed high in the sky, letting down smiting rays of light to everything below it._

'Where?' _was the lone thought that drifted through my mind as a lay in the scorching in the sun, my mind barely functioning and my brain feeling like an anvil being hammered upon. A throat as dry as the sand around myself._

 _Muscles tensed but slackened, energy and blood unable to flow through._

 _Something within me knew this wasn't right, that I shouldn't be here._

 _But that part of me was locked far away from the me here and now._

 _I lay there for hours and hours till the sun set._

 _The scorching sands cooled and burnt skin felt a reprieve, nerve ends firing back up allowing pain to flood through a half-burnt body._

 _I cried._

 _I couldn't take it. A part of me knew I was too weak to take it. Somewhere in me knew that I wasn't made for this, that I was merely a simple person._

 _A pained warble left my throat, feeling as if shards of glass had cut through the delicate skin within. A lone tear escaping my body almost as if it took the last vestige of water with it, drying in the sands as it dropped._

 _It only got worse as a wind howled its way through the desert._

 _Where there was once scorching sands was now replaced with bone-chilling winds and frozen dunes of sand._

 _A body half-burnt began to cool. Nerve endings flaring with pain as cold winds bit through my burnt body._

 _Muscles once again tensed trying to allow energy and blood to flow through._

 _I realized it was my stomach tensing, not my legs._

 _I realized my legs were numb, pain long since having left them._

 _I couldn't feel my legs, much less actually move them._

 _I cried._

 _I tried too._

 _Water, a precious resource, long ago having left my dehydrated body. My heart and soul clenched in pain and sorrow, but my body could do nothing to show it._

 _Pain and delirium the only thing having kept me conscious, but pain and delirium couldn't power and fuel a broken body._

 _It was another couple of hours, or maybe even minutes in the chilling winds before I passed out into darkness._

" _He'll m-ke a worthy we-pon fo- Gri-a" a voice said._

 _Something… some_ one _picked up my broken body roughly before tossing me into a solid surface._

 _The sudden harsh movement caused my body to flare up once again in pain. But the constant movement of the surface beneath lulled me to sleep once more._

 _I didn't know it, but the pain I'd experienced was nothing in comparison to the hell that was going to come._

 _When I came to I was still in a delirious state. I found myself bolted down to a cold stone table, surrounded by people in black and purple._

" _Let the procedure begin," one of them said._

 _The next thing I knew was the true meaning of pain_.

* * *

I knew pain for days, months, or perhaps years. I wouldn't know since I'd been locked away on that slab of stone.

Every couple of hours someone would shove something down my throat, the thing in question allowing me to barely make it to the next presumable day without dying in hunger.

Water was never a problem, but not in a good way.

Whoever it was that was keeping me captive had left a small tap on in the ceiling, allowing it to drip small droplets of water onto my face and if I opened my mouth just right the droplets would fall directly inside. After hours/days/months/years of a constant source of water dripping like a rhythm; it slowly drove me ever so slightly insane.

These were the only good parts that I even closely yearned for on the stone-cold slab.

The worsts parts were…

The worsts parts were something else entirely.

Sometime after my capture, the group of individuals left leaving only one of their members behind.

I knew him only as the 'scientist'. I say 'scientist' because there was no way he was a doctor, not with what he did to me.

* * *

 **(HUGE FUCKING WARNING! SHIT GETS EXTREMELY GRAPHIC! WARNING THIS IS A TORTURE SCENE! If you want to understand the plot, this will be important to read but it's still REALLY loaded with Gore. You've been warned!)**

Flashback

" _Well now that we're alone, it's time to have some fun," I craned my neck to look at him._

 _He was thin and stick-like with pale skin and black hair, a pair of spectacles covering his eyes only allowing a glare of white to bounce off of it. Even with how harmless he looked my heart began to beat like crazy, something in his voice sending my deficient instincts into overdrive._

 _A cold sweat broke over me._

 _A sickly smile spread over his visage like poison. "Now, now, me and you are going to have so much_ fun _," he said as he brought over a small wooden table and tray filled with metallic instruments I couldn't see but I could definitely hear them rattle._

 _He brought one up, the smile on his face spreading just a bit more. "Oh yes, this is going to be fun indeed," he said while allowing a hand to drop and pick up a tool before bringing it back up, almost as if showcasing it to me. In his hand was a something akin to a scalpel, only chipped but just as sharp._

 _His hand lowered._

 _Pain shot through me as I felt the chipped scalpel slowly cut through my chest. My eyes bugged in pain, and my body convulsed causing the scalpel to dig even deeper._

" _Oh, now that just won't do," I could barely make out before his voice gained a strange quality._

"Ruin. _"_

 _My body froze._

 _Not because the pain was gone._

 _But because the pain was suddenly amplified a hundred-fold. It felt like jagged shards of glass had been shoved through all of my nerve receptors causing untold pain but leaving my body unable to react. The pain receptors in every part of me shot off nerve signals to my head, and my head shooting response signals back but getting nothing in return._

 _I gave a silent scream, the pain causing tears to leak down my face. The silent scream tore through me for minutes on end, the pain was almost mind-numbing._

 _Almost._

 _But I could still feel all the pain even as I was on the cusp of passing out. Only on the cusp, never able to go over._ _As quick as it came, it dissipated leaving me with ragged breaths._

 _Phantom pains caused my body to continue twitching, my eyes blinking in and out of focus from the indescribable torture._

'W-what… what t-the hell was that?' _was the singular thought that ran through my head in the midst of recovering._

" _Hehehe see, isn't this just splendid?" the man in black spoke up as a giggle escaping his lips, I didn't dare move a muscle as fear pierced through the fog lurking in the back of my mind. "Ahh, I'm hurt though…"_

 _He leered over me, red (red?) eyes bore into my own with a demented smile._

"… _you didn't scream for me."_

 _A jolt ran through me._

 _Even after everything, I still had a slight hope something or_ someone _would take mercy._

 _The small part inside of me that knew I shouldn't have been here, the part that was always fighting, even if I didn't know about it._

 _That part of me shattered._

 _It was like I was a puppet on strings, only the strings had been cut. I fell down limp back onto the table, the little vestiges of energy within me drained as if floodgates had opened._

 _The man in black's demented smile changed into something else, something that could only be described as euphoric pleasure._

" _O-OOOOOOHHHH." he screamed out before collapsing, his face landing in my open chest cavity. Immense amounts of pain flooded once more but I couldn't bring myself to do… well, to do anything._

 _The man let out ragged breaths. "Yes, we're having so much fun aren't we?" he rubbed his face into my chest- no… into my open bloody chest cavity, I could feel his face place pressure on my sternum, feel as he rubbed against the bone itself._

 _I looked at him._

 _He looked at me._

 _The demented smile returned as he picked up something that looked like a chisel and hammer._

 _I watched in abject horror and detachment as he placed the chisel upon my sternum._

" _SO MUCH FUN!"_

 _The hammer was brought down._

 _ **CRACK**_

 _White hot pain lanced through my body with each hammer blow, the chisel etching_ something _into my sternum._

 _I felt the pain._

 _I felt each blow._

 _But I couldn't bring myself to care. What was the point?_

 _Everything hurt._

 _Everything just_ _ **hurts**_ _._

 _But I'm too weak to do anything._

 _So why does it matter?_

 _A felt something constrict around my heart._

 _Something_ warm.

'Finally,' _I thought, and closed my eyes,_ 'Take me away from this…'

 _The constricting continued, it was becoming painful._

 _It felt like my heart was about to explode, my breathing coming out in rapid pants and groans leaving my mouth._

" _Now he makes a sound! Oh goody!" I heard the man giggle._

 _My eyes shot open just as I took a look at him._

" _Experiments aren't fun to play with if they don't respond. Their response is the best part!" he giggled once more._

 _I noticed what he was doing._

 _His front half was bloody, the chisel and hammer having been replaced with a bowl filled with some sort of mixture in one hand._

 _His other was deep in the hole in my chest cavity, the hole open that I could see my own intestines. I felt something move up my esophagus and watched in horror as my own stomach convulsed in tandem._

 _I twisted my head to the side and vomited._

" _Ah… that's not quite the response I was looking for, y'know when someone has your heart in their hands, the reaction should be a bit more… what's the word I'm looking for?" I heard him say._

 _He continued to mutter, but through the fog of pain, detachment, horror, and disgust, his words flitted through my mind._

 _Heart in their hands._

 _I looked back at my chest, past my bigger and smaller intestines, to where his arm was still in my chest._

 _Wrapped around my beating heart was his warm hand. Beating even as he had a firm grip on it._

 _I watched as he gave it a small squeeze._

 _A lance of pain raced through me causing me to convulse once more. I watched once more as my stomach convulsed before turning my head to the side._

 _ **BLERGH**_

 _I vomited once more and watched it drip off the stone slab. The hand around my heart let go and I gave a sigh of relief._

 _At least before a blinding pain smashed through the left side of my face and jaw._

 _ **Crack**_

 _I felt something in my mouth crack and my eyes rolled around in their sockets from the sudden blow._

 _In a haze of blinding pain, I looked up once more to find the man in black leering over me._

 _A heavy blush adorned the man's face, "I can't have you not watch the main event, it'd be awfully rude of you."_

 _He gave a mighty heave of his right arm, the one not holding the bowl._

 _ **SMACK**_

 _The sounded resounded around the chamber as a blow was wrought to the opposite side of my face. The pain that was once like a lance was now akin to a chainsaw. I thought I knew pain naught but a scant few seconds ago._

 _This was worse._

 _But I felt as if there was still so much more to come._

 _I wished I was wrong._

 _But I was right._

 _I watched with a blurry and distorted vision as he moved back onto my chest cavity._

 _He moved the bowl and gently poured it into my cavity, onto my sternum where there was a previously unknown_ something c _hipped away._

 _It looked almost like a rune or spell circle from a fantasy visual._

 _I watched as the mixture, a glowing (glowing?) blue, and glittery viscous liquid was poured onto the rune/spell circle thing and filled till it followed the grooves of chipped bone._ _It was warm and slightly comforting._ _I watched as he placed his hand just above it, slightly hovering above it._

"Nosferatu."

 _Before when he said something like that it was like knives piercing every single nerve ending in my body._

 _This felt as if it was draining my very life._

 _It was definitely something else._

 _It continued draining even past the point where I fell limp._

 _It continued past the point I started screaming._

 _It continued past the point I felt blood dripping from every orifice of my body._

 _It continued till I was almost dead._

 _Then it stopped._

 _I couldn't breathe or move or do anything._

 _I didn't have the energy._

 _My eyes felt like iron weights in their sockets. But they still functioned with detachment, watching as a bright shining light shone from my chest._

 _I could somehow feel the mixture harden on my sternum. Turning from a liquid to a solid that had been etched and solidified into my very bones._

" _That was amazing!" I heard a voice say, but it sounded blocked, almost if I heard it through water, only I could still hear it even as I was underwater._

" _Experiment three-four-seven is a success at the first initial stage. The subject was found within the desert three kilometres east of the city, his current status shows no magical potential nor inclination towards anima, healing, nor dark magic as of yet."_

" _Experiment three-four-seven is currently the only experiment to have passed the initial stage of solidification of the spirit mixture." I heard him mutter, my mind latching on to his words, anything to drive even a bit of the agony away. "Spirit mixture with Nosferatu has drained experiment of most of his life-force, however, it seems he's managed to pull through. Look for cause, ensure replication." He continued to mutter._

" _Continuation of experiment shall resume at 0600 tomorrow. Side Note: Experiment is still conscious but in extreme amounts of lovely pain. Perhaps that is the reason experiment has succeeded?" He clapped his hands with a certain finality._

 _He looked down at me, "Thank you for playing with me today! I hope you'll continue to enjoy the continued trialing of the Plegian Experimentation Department!" he said before bouncing off._

 _I laid there down in silence, something niggling at the back of my head with what he said past the haze of searing agony and pain._

 _All to soon everything caught up with me._

 _This was only the start of everything._

 **(Torture Scene End. Please note that there are still some gory parts ahead but nowhere near as bad.)**

* * *

My mind replayed the memory as a drop of water passed through my lips, a constant blinding pain coursed through my body.

Back then I had once again though I knew pain.

I knew nothing.

That pain was nothing compared to the next experiments. It was nothing compared to now. Sometimes, however, I'd blackout and wake up a significant amount of time later, new additions to my chest appearing each time.

I felt another drop of water fall into my mouth as the door creaked open.

"You'll be practicing down here."

My body went rigid as the man in black's voice echoed throughout the chamber.

"We have an ongoing experiment down here, however, he can take the pain. Feel free to use your magic on him as target practice."

A new voice spoke up, a female in her late teens, probably around my age, "Very well."

' _Quite the succinct response.'_ I noted with a mental chuckle.

It's quite depressing that something like this could make me laugh.

Those words would have made me scared before. But I couldn't bring myself to care.

Pain was pain.

It's all I knew.

It's all I had.

"I'm afraid you can't kill him; however, he is an important experiment after all." The man in black said as I watched him around the corner with a second person in tow.

The man in black walked up to my slab (yes, I have dubbed it 'my slab' as of an indeterminate amount of time ago) and peered down at me, I noticed a woman- no, a girl following behind him. I could barely make out her features my eyes having problems noting anything about other than the fact she wore black and… a lighter shade of black?

Yes, she mostly wore the same coloured clothes as the man.

Actually, now that I think about it, I couldn't actually make out the features of my captor either.

' _Strange…'_ I thought, content to ignore him for now as I took in my surroundings in a different light, _'I can't… I can't actually see much of anything actually, everything looks so blurred…'_ I realised everything seemed slightly blurred, making everything look like an indescribably blob and mesh of differing colours in the shapes of different types of objects.

 _ **CRACK**_

I felt a blow land somewhere below the adornments upon my chest, most likely the ribs if the sound of cracked bone was any sort of indication. A small lance of pain ebbed from the blow but that was it.

' _Funny,'_ I thought clinically, ' _That type of pain barely even bothers me anymore…'_

"See," the man in black spoke, "He barely even felt that, stuff like this barely even phases him anymore." He drew closer, a loving gaze on his face, his hand drifting across my chest along the glowing blue runic array adorning the skin of my chest.

 **SMASH SMASH SMASH**

Repeating blows rained down hitting from my collarbone to my ribs and pelvic area, each blow I realised carefully missing the array on my chest. Each blow breaking bones, the pain slowly increasing once more as it had each time he came and visited. After a couple of minutes, the blows tapered out as heavy breathes panted from the man's mouth, an intense blush making itself visible even with my terrible sight.

His hand tapped me lightly, "See? Perfectly fine." he said tapping my broken collarbone sending another lance of pain that slowly added to the pain wracking my body. Not a gut-wrenchingly terrible pain but something more akin to a constant throb from all around my body. "Well I'll leave you to your practice, King Gangrel wants me to show him the progress. Toodles!" he cheered before hopping off back up the stairs.

' _King… Gangrel?'_ I thought, _'There haven't been any Kings by that name in the last century, much less an actual King…'_ I wondered, also noting the name 'Gangrel'. For some reason, it bothered me in the back of the head.

The screeching of a chair brought me out of my musings. I turned my head to see the woman dragging a wooden stool to beside my slab before sitting on it, the stool elevating her slightly higher than my prone body.

A hand stretched out and traced my injuries eliciting a hiss of pain in response. I felt them prod each injury eliciting a hiss or groan of discomfort with each passing touch, it wasn't till after she prodded each injury that her hand moved to the array adorning the centre of my chest.

My breath hitched with each stroke of her finger flitted across the blue lines, an ethereal glow flowing through the lines of the solidified liquid mixture. Suddenly her finger stopped, hovering just a scant few centimeters above the centre of my sternum. After a few seconds of it gently hovering it suddenly withdrew back to its owner.

"Absolutely disgusting…" I heard her mutter, her voice husky and feminine.

' _Now that's just rude, I didn't exactly ask to be beaten and have my sternum and chest etched with a glowing blue magical out-of-this-world shiny liquid solid.'_ I mentally rambled.

…

' _Something's wrong with me…_ ' I thought

' _No shit,_ ' another part of me in the small recesses of my mind thought, _'You've been tortured and experimented on and now you're more worried about some chick insulting you rather than trying to get out of here!?'_

"It's absolutely disgusting what they do to people like you," I heard her mumble once more.

' _Oh… that's what she meant… yay, we have someone nice-ish for once,'_ I thought happily.

' _She hasn't untied us or let us go, she should go die in a pit of spikes,'_ the other part of me thought.

' _Oh hush, anyone not torturing me is nice… comparatively,'_ I shushed that part of me and brought my focus back onto the girl.

She looked down at me, the only prominent feature I could really see was her orbs of dead black meeting mine, all of her others feature slightly blurred making it difficult to truly see her. Like looking at a picture only the lines that spirited each colour was missing.

I looked up at her and tried my best pleading look, even if for a chance that it worked.

She shook her head.

"I can't let you free, I'd be punished heavily if I let one of his precious experiments loose," she said monotone, an apologetic look replacing her emotionless façade before it came back once more.

I let out a sigh.

As much as I truly wanted to escape the pain and escape the torture, a part of me wouldn't let me have someone else take my place.

 _'I wonder if that's something that makes me, me?'_ I wondered.

A dainty warm hand founds its way onto my ribcage, just above my damaged ribs eliciting a groan of surprise and pain from me.

"I can only help ease the pain," she looked at me, "Would you allow me to ease it for you?"

I thought over it. If she wanted to do she could torture me without my permission. If it could ease the pain then it'd be worth it, and if she tortured me… well, I could handle the pain, hopefully.

I nodded.

"Please beware, it'll be painful for a couple of seconds," she said as another hand placed itself on my stomach.

 _"Flux."_

My eyes widened at her words, the way she intoned them so similar to the main in black.

Then came the pain. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't tolerable either.

I grunted as it felt like all my nerves were simultaneously placed in burning-cold ice, but true to her word the pain increased to the point where all my nerves felt numb.

I glanced at her in thanks only to see a small purple shroud-like mist covering myself. Past the mist was the girl, her hands steadily pumping mist into my body before they retracted.

"That should last a couple of minutes," she panted out, a small sheen of sweat decorating the crest of her forehead.

A silence overcame us, the only thing creating noise was the crackling of the purple mist.

"T-Thank you," a croaky and scratchy voice, a voice sounding as if it hadn't been used in so long echoed throughout the chamber.

I looked at her in confusion.

She looked at me.

…

…

' _Oh, that was me.'_

She shook her head, "No… you shouldn't be thanking me. I'm working with the people that've hurt you."

My head lolled along my slab, the cool sensation of my nerves a relief after the indiscernible amount of time of constant pain.

"You're new. You didn't torture me. You made the pain go away."

She shook her head once more, something yellow glittered in the crown of her silken black locks, "No… I still hurt you. I made you feel the pain to relieve the pain, even now you're still in pain only it's so strong you can no longer feel it."

A weak smile/grimace crossed my face but soon disappeared with the amount of energy it took. "You asked me." I simply said.

She smiled limply, her eyes unable to meet mine.

"What's your name?" she cut through the silence.

"My name's… my n-name's…" I started before stopping.

I didn't know my name.

What was my name?

What was my name!?

WHAT IS MY NAME!?

…

"I don't know…" I croaked out eventually, the effort finally making me realise sore my throat felt, seemingly unaffected by the numbingly-cold feeling of whatever she'd done.

"I see… Where are you from?"

"I don't know…"

"Do you know any family?"

"I don't know…" I said once more, sounding like a broken record.

"I see…"

The daunting silence came back once more leaving me to stew in my thoughts.

Who am I? Where am I from? Did I have a family? Did the miss me? Would they miss me?

"How old are you?" she spoke up once more, the time she seemed almost subdued with her monotony.

A number popped into my head

Eighteen.

"I'm eighteen," I said, something stirred in my chest.

Her head flicked like a switch, her eyes boring into mine with a slight sheen.

"We're the same age I suppose…" she uttered.

…

…

"I s-suppose so, h-huh?" I croaked in response, mentally trying to find any other clues or indications about myself.

What did I look like?

"Mirror?"

"Huh?"

I repeated my quest, an understanding entering her eyes.

She came back with a small shard the size of her hand and placed it above me, showing me my own reflection.

Looking back at me was a gaunt youth, brown eyes with hollowed cheeks and black eyebrows. The most disconcerting thing wasn't the dead look in the youth's eyes but actually their hair.

My hair was a stark white with intermittently spread single strands of black. Like fifty pieces of pepper hidden among a thousand pieces of salt.

This wasn't me.

But the reflection didn't lie.

This was me.

"T-thank you," I managed to get out, the sight of myself disgusted me.

She nodded silently, a contemplative gaze in her eyes.

"I think I should leave…" she stood up and grabbed the wooden stool, "The magic should last another three or so minutes before it wears off."

Magic?

She placed the stool back and walked away.

"W-Wait." I panted out from my slab, "N-Name?"

She stood in the doorway, one hand supporting her body as she looked over at her shoulder, a small but sad smile breaking her silent façade.

"I think it'd be best if you don't know my name," she whispered before ascending the stairs.

Some part of me understood.

Another part of me wanted to know who the kind girl was that let me feel relief for even a few seconds.

A small part of me was quiet.

I lay there silently.

The mist-like shroud dissipated and the pain returned.

It hurt so much more than it ever had before.

After another long period of time of continued experiments and torturous pain, something new happened.

The man in black came rushing down the stairs with a megawatt smile that sent chills running my spine.

"Hellloooo my darling~" he sang as he leaned over me, a hand brushing gently over the expansive what I now knew was definitely a spell circle. "We're going to be bringing you on a test phase, it's going to be wonderful!" he said.

Before I knew what happened, darkness encompassed my vision.

* * *

(3rd Person POV – Regna Ferox)

Regna Ferox was a land of white and brown, all due to the brown trees that dotted the landscape in addition to the freezing temperatures and chilling winds causing snow to blanket the country.

Cutting off Regna Ferox from the rest of the world was a massive structure known to many as the Longfort, a massive structure spanning the whole southern length of Regna Ferox border and acted as a titanic stone wall separating the country from its neighboring dominions.

The Longfort and Regna Ferox landed under the dominion of two individuals, each taking responsibility and control over two sides of the nation; the East and West, both individuals being known as Khans of their respective sides.

One such Khan, more specifically the East-Khan could be found leaving the Longfort with a patrol group on one of her rare moments of free time to go out and get her blood pumping. Such is the nature of Feroxians, blood-pumping and aggressive being the most notable traits. The East-Khan was no different, only being disciplined and tempered.

However, this day would be something different.

A tan, blonde, well-muscled woman looked around from the front of her group, the group consisting of seven well-armoured warriors. A dainty tanned hand rose, fingers splayed causing all seven other warriors to halt in their tracks.

"Someone's coming," the blonde women spearheading the group said through the howling winds and falling snow. After a while, it became evident what the source was.

Heavy footsteps could be heard crunching through the snow.

For the tanned woman, it was a familiar figure in hulking armor that came rushing through the snowy woods, barely out of breath.

"Raimi?" The leader of the group asked in evident confusion.

The hulking figure came to a stop revealing a woman in heavy armour with short blonde hair, a massive shoulder guard covering both her shoulders and neck. "Khan Flavia, Plegian sorcerers and mages have been sighted south of the Longfort just three-hundred fifty metres away from here," the now known Raimi said quickly.

In seconds the rest of the group brought up a variety of weapons to guard; swords, axes, lances, and heavy shields. All but the leader, Khan Flavia.

"Plegians? Why are they marching into Regna Ferox, shouldn't they still be recovering from the war with Ylisse?" The tanned woman, Flavia asked curiously.

"Normally I'd agree with you yes, but for some reason however, they seem to be making their way towards the Longfort with haste," Raimi quickly explained the situation to her leader. "They seem to be carrying something in chains, however."

"Chains?" Flavia looked down at the fallen snow beneath her feet, mind whirring at what this could possibly mean.

Suddenly turning around, she brought out a silver axe from her waist and looked at the group behind her. "It seems we have some intruders in our lands, what's say you and we go clean up this mess?" she said with a charismatic grin.

Excited grins answered her call.

Turning around Flavia looked to Raimi, "Lead the way."

Raimi took off, her leader and the group not falling behind a single step.

* * *

It was closing into dusk by the time the Feroxian group found the Plegian invaders.

When they came to the intruders in a clearing they found not Plegian sorcerers and mages marching towards the Longfort but instead bloody snow and body parts littering the clering they were found in, most likely stopping for rest.

"What happened here?" Flavia questioned while the rest of the group looked around in amazement.

Raimi, however, saw something moving in the snow. "Foe!"

Immediately the group took notice of a man kneeling down in the snow, chains around his neck, arms, and legs holding a body out in front of him.

 **pomf**

With a slight puff of snow, the body came falling down and became hidden within the Feroxian snow.

Like a puppet cut of its masters' strings, so too did he fall laying down in the cold snow.

The group aside from Flavia took a defensive perimeter around him, heavy shields digging into the snow and weapons raised.

No one moved.

The only sound coming from the man was ragged breaths and visible pufts of steam coming from the snow.

Someone took a step forward, then another.

The group took one look at the sound to find Flavia walking forward calmly.

"Ma'am!" Raimi shouted from behind her shield.

Flavia merely raised a hand and looked over her shoulder to quell her. As she strode forward she took careful measures to not touch the evidently Plegian sorcerers body as shown by the corpses dark golden-embroidered black robes but still within completely visible sight of the man in the snow.

As she got closer she stopped and stared.

Not because the man was intimidating, but because the _man_ was but a boy, a boy on the cusp of adulthood yes, but still a boy. It also may have had something to do with the glowing, pulsing, and flowing spell circle that seemed to be engraved in the centre of his chest.

Still, Flavia cautiously moved forward and knelt beside the boy.

* * *

(1st person POV)

"Hey, are you okay?" a gentle voice whispered. A comforting cold surrounded my body.

Where was I?

Where's my stone slab?

Is the man in black gone?

"Hey," the gentle voice called out once more.

I opened my eyes to a blinding white that encompassed my vision, as my eyes adjusted I could faintly make out snow _(snow?)_ falling, and a large moon hanging from above. Everything looked so beautiful.

' _Is this heaven?'_

"Ah good you're alive," the gentle voice spoke once more, but a chuckle overcame it at the end.

I moved my head to find a vision of beauty.

A woman, tanned and blonde, muscled but feminine knelt beside me.

She smiled kindly, "I'm Khan Flavia. What's your name?"

What's my name?

I looked back up at the moon.

It was so white and beautiful tonight, so calm and peaceful. So far away from pain.

It was perfect.

I need a name.

I want to be just like the moon. Away from all the pain.

Like the white serene snow that fell from the fleeting sky…

Blanc.

Like the Moon so high up in the sky amidst a cosmos of stars…

Fengari.

That sounded nice.

"B-Blanc. N-name's Blanc Fengari…" I muttered.

Warm hands picked me up.

"Blanc Fengari huh?" the gentle voice spoke once more, a warmth lulling me to sleep.

"I'm going to make you into something special…" her words seemed kind and her touch was gentle.

It was enough.

I fell asleep amidst white.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Well here's the first chapter. It won't be all from Blanc's perspective there will also be from Robin's perspective. Note this is currently four years prior to the events of Fire Emblem Awakening and will catch up to the start of Awakening next chapter.**

 **Blanc is French for White.**

 **Fengari is Greek for Moon.**

 **Hence his name Blanc Fengari = White Moon**


	2. Chapter 2: Two-Sided

**Two-Sided Awakening**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem nor anything belonging to them, that right belongs to Nintendo Systems. The only thing I own are my own original character/s and ideas I create for the story.**

 **Author's Note: Please read and review so I know what I should work on. Also, I previously said this chapter would be where I caught up to Awakening but I was wrong, there were still things I needed to clear up in this chapter before I start on Canon.**

 **On with the story. Also please read and review!**

* * *

(1st Person POV – Blanc Fengari)

I opened my eyes to a stone grey, my body sinking into the plush bedding below. A hand rose a wiped my face of the slumber still remaining.

' _It almost feels like a dream,'_ I thought as I rose, sheets falling away revealing my dull shining reminder of pain.

It'd been three months since I was found. Three months after I was free. Three months since I was allowed to do what I wanted to do.

The people who had found me were from Regna Ferox, a snowy nation of warriors.

Yes… warriors.

* * *

 _(Flashback)_

 _I opened my eyes to stone, my body shooting up._

" _Argh!" I grunted, sharp pains wracking the length of my body._

" _Oh, you're awake!" a familiar voice spoke up from my side. It was the woman from before… Khan Flavia I believe her name was._

 _Non-existent muscles tensed as I looked around, my hands feeling beneath my body. They sank._

 _I looked downwards to find myself in a cot, hands sinking into a plush mattress._

 _It felt amazing._

" _Hey, you okay?" Khan Flavia spoke up again, having moved herself to sit on the cot, concern glimmering in her eyes._

 _I gave a small grin, but even I could tell it didn't really reach my eyes. "I'll be fine… I think."_

 _Suddenly I remembered what happened the last time I was conscious, memories of falling snow and hanging moons._

 _Memories of a woman holding me, carrying me away from the pain._

 _My head shot up, my own orbs staring deep into her own, a true smile reaching my eyes._

" _Thank you so much!" left my mouth in a hurry, my head bowed in thanks._

…

…

…

" _Hahaha! The hell are you doing kid!?" her tone became boisterous and hearty as she laughed, a distinct change from what I'd been expecting._

 _I looked up in confusion._ " _Huh?"_

 _Flavia had tears in her eyes and a large smile on her face, "Kid, we should be thanking you. With you taking out the Plegian dastards the Longfort didn't have to worry about any assaults."_

…

 _What?_

" _Um," I began, drawing her attention, "What are Plegians? Also, what's a 'Longfort'?"_

 _Silence sang around us._

" _Kid, you're shitting me, right?" she spoke, an awkward chuckle ending her sentence as she rubbed the back of her head._

 _I shook my head negative in response._

" _Where were you raised, under a rock?" she mumbled._

" _I don't remember my childhood," the response blurted from my mouth automatically._

 _Flavia closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Well… this quickly went to shit…"_

 _Her brown orbs locked onto my own, "Kid, what do you actually remember? What's the last thing you remember?"_

" _Uh…" I stopped to think, letting all the memories come to me, "I remember… laying in the snow… I think it was night-time? Then I remember you… you picked me up. After that… nothing."_

 _She leaned forward, a flicker of concern and something else in her eyes, "And before that?"_

" _Uh…" I mumbled. Then it came back to me._

 _The pain._

 _The woman._

 _The relief._

 _The pain._

 _The man in black._

 _The darkness._

" _I remember being on a slab…" I began, grimacing as some of the more painful memories resurfaced. "A man in black tortured me, experimented on me," I motioned to the glowing circle on the centre of my chest, "I was there for so long… then one day he said he'd be bringing me on a test phase after that was darkness."_

 _Flavia leaned against her hands, a contemplative silence befalling each of us._

" _Regna Ferox was meant to be the testing grounds, that's why there was a whole convoy of Plegians…" Flavia muttered to herself but not nearly far enough for me to make out what she was saying, "But you stopped them."_

 _It sounded more like a statement as opposed to a question._

 _I shook my head once more. "Actually, I was hoping you could help me with that as well. I don't really remember anything after being knocked unconscious on the slab or before meeting you," I told her while rubbing the back of my head anxiously._

 _She let out an explosive sigh as I finished explaining my circumstances._

" _That certainly complicates things slightly," Flavia spoke as she straightened back up, the tension leaving her body as our eyes met. "Hopefully you'll remember something; anything, once you hear what happened."_

 _And she explained everything that occurred on her end, everything from the start of her free day and patrol with the guards, to Raimi_ (no idea who she is) _finding the Plegian group suspiciously heading towards Regna Ferox_ (that one hasn't been explained to me either), _to me apparently having killed all the Plegians there and someone that fit the description of the man in black_ (that one made me happy, karma has been served you torturous son of a bitch) _._

 _Once she finished, she looked at me expectantly. I looked back at her while letting her story try and elicit any memories that may have been hidden._

 _I upturned my head to meet her eyes and shook my hid in negative, "I'm sorry but nothing's coming back to me..."_

 _Flavia massaged her forehead with a grimace, "Damn, I was hoping you'd be able to remember something at least. You don't even remember killing anyone?"_

 _I shook my head._

" _What about the spell array on your chest?" she asked while motioning to my glowing sternum, "Do you know what it does?"_

 _Another wordless shake of my head followed._

 _Flavia winced, "That's going to be a problem then."_

 _I cocked my head in befuddlement_

 _She stood up and moved to a window adjacent to the cot I was sitting on whilst motioning me to follow to her side. I noted as I got up that while my body hurt it wasn't near as bad as what I'd experienced before, if I had to say how much it hurt I'd say it ranked pretty damn low on my pain-threshold scale, which was saying something considering I had to pretty low tolerance for pain before._

 _When I reached the window, myself at her side I found myself looking over a courtyard, a very big but medieval courtyard. The ground was white with snow but messed up with footprints all over revealing the dirt ground beneath. Just farther beyond was an endless expanse of snow and trees. I watched as what looked like soldiers follow instructions from a woman with short blonde hair in a turtle-like heavy armour._

 _Something in me felt as if everything was off. Like this was a practice that was outdated, I don't know why but it felt odd that there were soldiers in metal armour._

" _Regna Ferox," Flavia spoke up, a glimmer of pride in her eyes, "It's beautiful isn't it?"_

 _I gave a verbal confirmation but slightly confused still._

" _Regna Ferox is a place that respects warriors and fighters of high martial caliber," Flavia said while eyeing the soldiers down below. The blonde one looked up at us and saluted, the soldiers stopping in their training and following suite. A motion of Flavia's hand returned them to their training._

" _Now that you've been seen with me, you'll soon be challenged," She said, eyes never drifting from the group. "As you are now," she motioned to my gaunt almost skeletal body, "You'll be broken into a pulp."_

 _I stood silent for a second before I voiced a question._

" _Where are you going with this?" I asked, confusion and weariness lacing my tone._

 _Flavia sighed once more, but this time it seemed like in reluctant exasperation. "I'll be straight with you Blanc. As of now, you're an unknown variable." She spoke as she pried her attention from the group fighting below to me, "You have the power and strength to somehow decimate Sorcerers and Mages while being chained and malnourished as you are. Something in you is strong but you yourself are weak"_

 _It dawned on me what she was getting at._

" _If I stay I'll be too weak to fight back and since a fair amount of people including you and this 'Raimi' saw me, people would want to fight me?" I said, Flavia nodding with everything I said. "If that happens I'll probably die… that'd probably reflect poorly back on you, wouldn't it? You'd be called a liar and a fool or something along those lines?"_

 _Flavia gave a dull smirk, "Right in one Blanc, and with that, you have three choices."_

 _I wasn't all that surprised with what she was getting at, it made sense after all. A leader of a country/nation/thing saying a skeletal dude took down a bunch of elite sounding guys from another country, people would think she's nuts. So of course, how would they verify the truth? Find the guy and fight him, see if he's all that people make him out to be. If he dies, the leader is a liar, and if he lives? He's definitely the real deal._

" _What are they?" I asked, not at all perturbed by the sudden hunting gleam in her eyes._

" _You first choice is you leave Regna Ferox and live a normal life while most likely being liable to die from bandits or wild animal in your poor state the moment you leave the walls of the Longfort," she nonchalantly explained._

" _Yes, absolutely nothing about that sounds negative," I drawled out, the sassiness feeling familiar on the tip of my tongue._

 _Flavia grinned good-naturedly and continued, "Your second option is to stay in Regna Ferox and train, after six months I'll let challengers face you. You either die or you live. Simple as that. After that, you'll be free to do whatever you want in Regna Ferox and do whatever you want."_

" _So, either way, I'll probably be dead?" I questioned._

" _Yup!" she smiled cheerily._

…

" _Oh, the only difference is that you have six more months to live before the rest is up to you," she tacked on._

 _I groaned, bringing a cold hand up to my face and rubbed it against my cheek, the feel of gaunt bones easily prominent beneath the weight of my fingertips._

" _And you get food, shelter, basic necessities, and training if you stay," she tacked on to the end of her previous tack-on._

 _I stayed silent._

" _What about the last choice?" I asked, curious as to what it could've been. The first two seemed to have covered some fairly large areas after all._

 _Flavia eyes gleamed in a predatory light while her grin turned almost feral._

" _The last choice is similar to the second, only it's a bit more… permanent," she began. "Instead of being a weapon for Plegia like how you were no doubt meant to be, you're going to be a weapon for Regna Ferox. You get all the benefits of the second choice, you'll be living within my territory, you'll be trained in the martial and weapons arts, and learning everything I have to offer. No need to fight and challengers of course unless I decide so."_

 _Her eyes gleamed with an unholy light._

" _In return, you'll be MY weapon. An instrument in which to assist me… who knows, I might even make you my champion for Arena Ferox if you're good enough in four years."_

 _I thought it over, the benefits seeming quite appealing at this point considering I didn't have a single thing to my name aside from a glowy magical circle._

 _The first option meant I'd most likely be dead within the first week. The second option meant I may have a chance to live but a still likely chance to die when the six months are over. The third option although seemed to be pretty good, I get food, board, knowledge, and training, I only need to be a weapon in return._

'That seems pretty good, to be honest, it's not like I have anything to return to so it wouldn't hurt to make a living as a weapon here, _' I rationalised, '_ It'll be a while until I'm ready for fighting though.' _I thought while surveying my skinny body._

 _A part of me was slightly perturbed by how accepting I was to be a weapon, but it also understood the benefits. It understood I needed a purpose._

 _My choice was decided._

 _I extended my hand, "I, Blanc Fengari, shall be your weapon. Your weapon alone."_

" _Yeesh so damn formal," Flavia grumbled with a roll of her eyes but nonetheless shook my hand._

* * *

The memory was engraved into my mind like it was yesterday.

I stood up from my bed, one of the things that changed in comparison to three months prior and looked in the mirror. Reflected from the polished glass was also something that had changed in comparison to before, my appearance.

As I looked in the mirror gone was the gaunt, almost skeletal figure that reflected back not three months before. Gone was the hollowed cheeks, thin and scrawny limbs, sunken eyes, and skin that looked pallid and stretched.

As I looked in the mirror, reflecting back at me now was a young, skinny but lightly muscled man, a man that was on the road to recovery. Replacing my hollowed cheeks was a masculine-ish jawline and cheeks, muscle more evident on my arms, legs and chest, my eyes seemed more awake, aware, and health and my skin shone with a healthy tone.

This was me.

I smiled a bit at my appearance before shaking my head of those thoughts, intent on getting ready for the day as I picked up a small diary from my desk and headed down to one of two mess halls that were situated within the Longfort, one on the East and West side respectively.

As I reached the mess hall I was greeted by cooks and guards alike.

"Lo' Blanc," a middle-aged guard waved his hands with a yawn.

"Hello," I greeted him, "Night duty?"

"Yup, you cooking breakfast this morning?" he asked, a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

I nodded in confirmation. Something I found out, well more like something that I found myself intimately familiar with, was cooking. For some reason when I entered the kitchen of the mess hall I felt at home, Flavia and Raimi (turns out she was the blonde training the soldiers back in the courtyard three months ago) think it's muscle memory kicking in. Even though I couldn't remember things mentally, my muscles seem to remember the motions of a kitchen.

Strange considering my muscles were basically non-existent.

"Awesome, I'll go grab some grub before I head off to bed," the guard gave a wry grin at my nod of confirmation.

I didn't say anything, my mind more preoccupied with what to make for a seventy man breakfast. It would've been more but half the Longfort went to the east side and a quarter of them were still or going to sleep since they were on night duty.

Scattered 'Hello's' greeted me as I entered the kitchen from the chefs getting ready for a busy rush, gathering ingredients for the day.

"What do we have today?" I tossed in the air.

One of the chefs stopped what they were doing and looked over to me.

"We got a fair amount of eggs, along with leftover sausages and beef from yesterday."

I nodded before motioning to a large walk-in room in the corner, "Anyone know what vegetables we have?"

"Vegetables are all stocked! We're only late on potatoes but those'll be coming later today!" someone from the back yelled.

As I'd found out a month ago, while I was familiar with the kitchen, I was also familiar with good food. So, during around my second shift in the kitchen, the chefs were amazed at a concoction of vegetables and meat medley I'd created so much so that they made me head chef whenever I was on mess duty.

"OI BLANC, I WANT MEAT!" a feminine voice called from outside the kitchen, someone who constantly kicked my ass around during training.

"YOU GOTTA EAT YOUR VEGGIES AS WELL RAIMI!" I yelled back, full knowing what her response would be.

"IF YOU GIVE ME VEGETABLES WITH MY BREAKFAST IMMA WORK YOU INTO THE GROUND!" Raimi yelled back to me.

"OI KID I WANT MEAT!" another feminine voice yelled.

I sighed before preparing my voice once more, "YOU'RE GETTING VEGETABLES AS WELL FLAVIA!"

It probably wasn't the smartest idea to decline your superior officer, but meh. It's not like she really cared as long as it was good food.

Raimi, on the other hand, was going to work me to the bone. Win-win situation for me to be honest, I get one over Raimi by making her actually eat her vegetables, which for some reason she really hated her vegetables, and I get advanced training in the form of punishment.

I heard Flavia grumble slightly as she presumably went off to grab a seat in the dining hall. Myself, on the other hand, decided to get to work.

"Alright guys, everyone gets a large pan and turn on the stoves! Half of you prep the garlic, onion, and shallots, I want them minced. The rest of us are gonna be slicing the sausages and beef to they're cubed. Get to it people!" I yelled as the kitchen suddenly became a bustling whirlwind of activity.

I continued calling out orders as people began finishing their tasks. "Prep team! Once you finishing mincing start pouring a bit of oil onto the pans and add the garlic and onions! The rest of you! Once you finish with the meat wash your hands and start mincing and de-juicing some tomatoes, around fifteen should be enough!"

Everyone was working like a synergised team, well at least mostly, some people would accidently bump into each other every now and then when getting ingredients but that's about it.

"We're gonna need around thirty eggs! Prep team, split thirty eggs between each of you and start frying them in the garlic and onion, be sure to mix them in good!" A bustle of activity occurred once more before dying down. "Meat team, start placing the meat in the eggs, prep team, make sure it's cooked before you add the tomatoes!"

Soon everything came to an end with eight extremely large plates of omelettes filled with meats and tomatoes, garnished with shallots. Each omelette was the size of 18-inch circle, more than enough to satisfy nine people each.

"Orders up!" I shouted as a brought out the food, holding a massive plate in one hand and a mug of chilled water in the other as I headed over to Flavia, Raimi, and my training squad. All the other chefs dealing out the food to each table and joining them.

We began splitting up the omelette, but not while Raimi glared at me for putting the tomatoes in. She gave me a stink eye and made a motion of palming her fist.

I gave a shrug, what didn't kill but still left me moving only made me stronger. I didn't, however, miss the way they all wolfed down their meal in glee.

* * *

"Oh gods," I panted out while clutching my chest, my heart feeling like it was going to burst and my lungs greedily sucking in air, feminine snickering wading through the air around me.

Heavy footsteps broke through the Feroxian snow just before coming to a stop ahead of me, I looked up to see Raimi's smug face, the spear in her hand resting on her shoulder "I told you I'd work you into the ground Blanc."

"Y-Yeah," I sputtered out, "Y-You're usually not this demanding with your punishment though," I said, still gathering oxygen into my lungs.

Raimi shrugged, "Khan Flavia wants me to figure out what exactly the spell circle on you chest does now that you're mostly healed, I figured the best way would be to push you as hard as physically possible and hope something happens."

I panted and glared at her, the soreness abating quickly, the pain more than tolerable now that oxygen was properly flowing in and out of my lungs.

"Right, so tomatoes apparently count as vegetables now," I muttered earning a metal encased blow to the back of the head.

"Smartass comments are gonna earn you harder drills," Raimi whispered with a grin as she leaned forwards.

I stayed silent for a moment as Raimi straightened herself upright, grabbing a wooden throwable lance and heavy shield from a nearby weapons rack.

' _I'm already this far… fuck it, it'll only help me anyways. In for a copper, in for a gold,'_ I mulled over in my head before opening my mouth.

"How about mushrooms, you good with those? They're technically a fungus, not a vegetable." I reasoned a shit-eating grin on my face.

Raimi shook her head with a raised eyebrow, a small smile on her face as she moved over to the sparring courtyard. "Just for that you and I are gonna be sparring."

The rest of the training group, all female knights, snickered as they watch the exchange evidently curious and interested as to how the spar was going to happen.

"I'm so happy you're all having fun," I snarked at them as I grabbed an iron spear.

Axes weren't my style, being that they felt too heavy in the head for me to properly wield. Swords were slightly similar in that it felt a bit unwieldy with my weak forearm muscles but I could manage with them. Spears were my best weapons by far being that I could adjust my grip along the shaft with both hands.

I noticed a glimmer of gold and silver exchange hands with the rest of the company, "Someone better have bet on me winning!" I shouted at them in slight annoyance.

"Odds are 7-1," one of them yelled, I could never actually remember any of their names, "Odds are in Captain Raimi's favour."

"I'm hurt," I muttered.

"You're about to be a lot more than just 'hurt', Blanc." Raimi jabbed as she rose her heavy shield, spear pointed forward.

I walked into the sparring yard opposite Raimi and get into a fighting stance, legs split farther than shoulder lengths apart with my right foot forward, spear in my right hand pointing downwards a bit while my left held the end of the shaft.

"You ready?" Raimi asked, getting into an even firmer stance.

I smiled, confidence never waning despite the odds of me actually winning, "As much as I'll ever be."

She nodded, "Loser is whoever falls unconscious or admits defeat."

"Naturally," I nodded.

One of the others stepped forward and rose a hand in response and counted down.

"Three."

"Two."

"Fight!"

I was long since used to that tactic, it was a way to always have soldiers on their toes. Sometimes they'd have long countdowns before saying 'fight' or even say it right of the bat.

The spear flipped in my hands as Raimi came charging forward with a thrust of her shield. Using the butt of the spear I pushed off her shield thrust sending me a sizable distance away, before quickly going on the offensive.

Quick spear thrusts against her heavy shield quickly proved to be more than useless. My feet took me back a couple of paces, both of us once more getting into defensive stances.

' _She's going to try and wear me down most likely,'_ I thought as I observed her stance, shield acting as a wall and lance in her right hand.

She proved me wrong by once again doing a full charge, shield held tightly to her front.

' _Okay maybe not…'_ I waited, bracing as she drew closer. Just as she was upon me I deftly dodged to the left causing her to continue sprinting forward.

However, she wasn't a Captain of Ferox for nothing. The moment I dodged, her shield came out in swing hitting full-on as I barely placed my spear before me to take a majority of the blow.

"GUH!" I grunted, the force of her shield swing sending me flying quite the distance. I looked up to see a wooden object on a projectile arc for my face, a quick roll and look showed it to be Raimi's wooden lance.

"You gonna be getting up anytime soon!?" she shouted, her shield to her side as she slowly trudged over.

I smirked, my right hand stabbing my iron spear into the snow while my left grabbed Raimi's- well my wooden lance now. Using the spear as a crutch I got up and swiftly plucked it from its place in the snow.

"Not even close bitch," I grinned.

"Oof, those are some fighting words you're throwing around," Raimi readied herself placing her shield onto her back, her hands coming up into fists, "You sure you're ready to be using those just yet?"

My grin turned into a smirk, "Nope!" I charged forward, both weapons now in hand as Raimi stood her ground fists raised, definitely more than enough to pummel me into the snow, ground, and bedrock beneath.

' _Please work, please work!'_ I prayed slightly to any gods, as I reached her I threw the lance with all my might at her face causing her to reflexively block and shatter it before it did any true damage.

"You really thought that would work?" she roared but found nothing but an empty space in front of her, void of human life.

I didn't say anything as I jumped up from my place sliding beneath her legs and thrust my spear forward to her back.

 _ **Clang**_

' _Right… her shield…'_ I realised belatedly. It was too late as a metal glove wrapped around my diaphragm and slammed me into the snow. I looked past her hand and into her eyes, my own widened as I watched her other hand reach behind her and withdraw her shield from its place on her back.

I wrapped my hands around the arms holding me to the ground.

Raimi smirked as her heavy shield rose before it came crashing down.

I gave a grin of my own, letting both of my legs kick hers from out underneath her causing her to be sent tumbling into the snow. I swiftly got up and bounded a couple paces back, fists raised.

' _Wait…'_ I blinked and looked at my hands. My vision looked back at Raimi's recovering form, her left hand still holding her shield while the other wrapped firmly around _my_ iron spear.

"Well fuck me sideways…" I muttered annoyed.

Raimi faced me fully, her back straight and arms lax beside her, "This just went to shit for you Blanc."

"Ya' don't say," I snarked sarcastically while tensing my body, the leather armour protecting me unlikely to do any real protection from what she was about to do.

"Let's end this!" she roared ferally similar to how all Feroxians tend to do as she charged forward faster than I could actually follow. She was on me before I could even bring my guard up properly to even begin trying to block her.

"Urk…" I grunted, a sharp pain beginning to form in my chest. I turned looked down to find my iron spear deep into the right side of my chest. I looked up to Raimi's smug smiling face.

"I guess it's my win," she smirked, a hand on her hip as her heavy shield settled beside her, its edge biting deep into the snow.

I wanted to say something snarky or something sarcastic in retort, but what came out was nothing like that. Instead, my thought process went something along the lines of "fuck it" before something within me snapped.

"The hell it is," I snarled, hands wrapping around the shaft of my spear.

Raimi's eyes widened as they were glued to my chest.

"Wait don't! You'll-" she started but it was too late.

"Grah!" I gave a grunt of exertion, yanking the spear free with a spurt of blood and getting back up onto my feet .

"It's not ever yet!" I roared and swung.

* * *

(3rd Person – Feroxian Courtyard)

"The hell it is," Blanc snarled.

Raimi's eyes widened as they locked onto the Blanc, his hands wrapping around the shaft of the spear.

What truly got her attention wasn't the fact that Blanc was still fighting nor the fact he was about to pull it out of his chest.

No, what got her attention was the pulsing blue spell circle now glowing in the centre of his sternum, visible from where the spear impaled the right side of his chest

Raimi barely had time to shout before Blanc yanked the spear out of his chest, "Wait don't! You'll-"

With a yank of his hands, the iron spear was now in his hands fully exposing the glowing solid-like liquid that flowed within the confines of the spell circle, glittering in the midday snow and sun. As Blanc stood up Raimi was able to get a good look at the spell circle shining like a beacon from the centre of his chest.

At that moment with a yell, Blanc charged forward with a swing of his spear, "It's not over yet!"

Raimi felt her heart stop with his charge, a sudden fear grasping her.

 **pomf**

Then Blanc fell face-first into the snow unconscious.

The fear surrounding her dissipated.

Silence reigned amongst those in the courtyard.

At least till Raimi's thought process kicked back into gear. "Someone get me a healer NOW! And someone get me Khan Flavia!" she yelled.

No one moved.

"MOVE IT PEOPLE!" she yelled one more as she slid to a stop and flipped Blanc over, the sound of rushing feet becoming apparent as she did so.

She quickly began undoing his upper body-armour once she came to a stop beside him, carefully peeling off his blood-soaked shirt.

Her face was awash in shining blue, the spell circle on his chest shining so vividly it was brighter than the snow falling.

Two pairs of footsteps came from behind her.

"Raimi what happened!? Is everything alri-" Flavia began as she and the Longfort healer came to a stop before cutting off, her attention fully taken by the shining spell circle on Blanc's skinny chest.

All three of them watched as it began to glow vividly while the deep chest wound inflicted by Raimi's attack began to swiftly knit back together, in less than two seconds the wound was gone and the light from the spell circle faded back into dormancy.

Silence reigned among the courtyard.

"Well, we know what that spell circle does now…" Flavia muttered.

Raimi couldn't help but nod along in stunned agreement, the healer left forgotten.

* * *

(A week later – Blanc's POV)

It had been three days since I'd been released from the healer's ward. It had been two days since I found out what the spell circle could do so far.

It had been five minutes since I woke up with my room filled in a corner with a pile of books neatly stacked and a note on my face.

 _Read the books and write in the journal provided about your findings._

' _What in the blazing hells?'_ I thought as I re-read the note, I would've been much more worried and scared if it hadn't been for two things.

The journal it was talking about way own journal.

The other factor was that it was in familiar handwriting.

 _My_ handwriting.

' _Scratch that, this actually make some more scared,'_ I thought, as I got up and crouched by the pile and looked each of them over.

' _Spell Circle Theory, A Beginner's Guide to Magic Theory, The Perfect Circle, Geometry for Scholars, Theocracy of Spell Creation?'_ I thought as I read them over, each of them having something in common besides the topic.

They were all from the Khan Flavia's Library.

' _Time to get some answers,'_ I made my way into my wardrobe and got dressed in warm clothes before heading out to Flavia's quarters.

After twenty minutes of strolling through the Longfort, I found myself standing in front of Flavia's quarters. I stood there for a minute and lightly knocked on the door.

 **knock**

…

…

No response.

I knocked slightly harder.

 **knock knock**

…

…

I knocked even harder.

 **KNOCK KNOCK**

"I SWEAR IF THAT'S YOU BLANC ABOUT YOUR SHITTY BOOKS I'M GOING TO GUT YOU! YOU WERE ALREADY HERE TILL MIDNIGHT SO FUCK OFF!" a voice roared from behind the door.

' _Last night?'_ I thought confused, _'Seriously, what in the world is going on?'_

"Uhh…" I started before the door before me shattered and something clasped around my windpipe before the world became a blur of colours before come to a sudden stop. With the sudden stop of motion and colours came a glaringly noticeable pain emanating from the back of my body, along with several uncomfortable pieces of something digging into my lower back.

My vision swam back into focus only to find my leaders glowering visage pressed very _very_ close to my own. "You have thirty seconds to explain yourself before I toss you from the top of the Longfort!" she snarled, her hands slowly crushing my windpipe.

My hands clawed at hers trying in futile to unhand myself. "B-books, my room…. _*gasp*_ note, face… _*gasp*_ don't remember anything," I gasped out as my airways slowly closed up.

Flavia continued glaring at my slowly oxygen deprived blue face.

Her hands, fortunately, relinquished their hold on my airways sending me falling to the floor.

"B-bloody hell!" I sputtered oxygen greedily being taken in, "What the hell was that for!?" I demanded in confusion and anger.

Flavia merely grunted and motioned for me to follow her into her room. I grumbled and got up, my air-passages still recuperating from being strangled, before warily shadowing my way behind her.

As I walked into her room my eyes widened in shock.

"What in the nine hells happened here!?" I exclaimed as I surveyed the carnage that her room. Normally her room was neat and orderly but now all the books on the far wall which was her library were strewn all over the floor. The only thing untouched by any mess was her desk and bed.

Flavia turned and sat on her bed, her eyes glaring into mine.

" _You_ happened," she growled.

"Me?"

"Yes, you! You came in here late last night, went through all the books, got whichever books caught you fancy then upped and left!" she snarled, true annoyance showing. "Don't tell me you didn't even remember!?"

"Uhhh… I actually don't, to be honest." I mumbled and sheepishly rubbed the back of my head, "I just woke up this morning with a note saying ' _Read the books and write in the journal provided about your findings'_ in my own handwriting and a bunch of books about spell circle theory and whatnot from your library here, I was hoping you would've been able to help me in all honesty."

Flavia sat there a moment in silence before groaning and burying her face in her hands.

"Bloody wonderful, we finally figure out what your shitty spell circle might be able to do and now this happens," she gave a glance up at me from her hands, "You're proving to be more trouble than you're worth, you know kid?"

"Hey, I'm as confused as you are!" I defended, hands waving in front of me, "How do you think I feel? All I had to worry about was a glowing blue magical healing spell circle carved into my chest but now I have a sleepwalking magically inclined body to deal with as well!"

Flavia stared at me then paused at that, "What did you say?"

I looked at her, "Glowing blue magical healing spell circle carved into my chest?"

"No, you moron, after that!"

"Sleepwalking magically inclined body?" I asked tentatively.

Flavia went silent, thoughts seemingly being mulled over, before she brought up cautiously, "Your eyes weren't closed last night, you seemed wide awake actually."

Eh?

"Wait so I wasn't sleepwalking? Wait... you know sleepwalkers?"

"No, sleepwalkers tend to do random things and go about with their eyes closed and generally makes fools of themselves, and yes I used to know a sleepwalker but she fixed that," Flavia eyed me before continuing. "You seemed aware and knew what you were doing, and if what you said about the books being about spell theory, then you also knew what you were searching for."

"Honestly nothing comes to mind when it's like this," Flavia admitted.

"So, what do we do?" I asked her worriedly.

"Eh, just go through what we usually do, we do our own thing while you do yours," Flavia shrugged, "We'll just hold you down and maybe interrogate you if you become like that again."

"Isn't that dangerous though?"

"Kid, you should be more worried about yourself, something's taking control of you," Flavia stated bluntly.

"I…" I began, "I don't think whatever it is, is malicious."

"Oh? Do explain…" Flavia leaned forward, her interest piqued.

"Well… the note," I started, "Whatever it was specifically asked for _me_ to read the books and document it, almost as if it needs _me_ to assist it. Also, the books were specifically about spell circle theory and creation, coincidentally or not-so-coincidentally just a few days after this," I motioned to my chest, "Activated."

Flavia contemplated for a while before beginning.

"If what you say is true…" Flavia stopped for a moment thinking over her words, "For the next week I'm confining you to your room when you'd usually have training with Raimi."

"Eh!?" I shouted in surprise.

"Kid, three months ago you were an unknown variable. Until three days ago your spell circle was also another unknown variable, I'm not about to let another unknown concerning you exist so I'm going to make sure you find out what the hell it wants and figure out how to fix this shit," she said with an air of finality.

"…I don't have a choice in this do I?"

"Unless you want to have your body maybe taken over then no, you don't," Flavia didn't budge.

"Very well then, I'll get started right away…" I made to move out the door.

"Not so fast!" she stopped me, "You're going to fix up the books and make breakfast first!"

I looked at the grin on her face.

Then to the books.

Then back to her.

"I'd say this is revenge for what the other me did, but it seems pretty fair to be honest," I said before getting a start on cleaning up her library.

* * *

It was four hours later when I finally sat down on my chair and got to reading.

The first book I picked up was _A Beginner's Guide to Magic Theory._

' _This seems like it should be a good start, if anything,'_ I thought as I began reading.

 _The most fundamental understanding of spell theory is the understanding of the different types of magic in addition to their sub-categories._

 _Anima magic, also commonly referred to as the magic of the elements, predominantly dealing in the forces of nature such as Fire, Wind, and Thunder. Anima magic has differing components with each force of nature: Wind is the weakest; however, it is also the lightest and most accurate in terms of usage; Thunder is the strongest but adversely is the least accurate and heaviest in terms of usage; and finally, Fire is the middle ground of accuracy and strength._

 _Dark Magic, also commonly referred to as black or elder magic is the rarest of the two magic categories. Typically, most practitioners prefer to call it "elder magic" as opposed to dark magic due to the word "dark" suggesting it is evil, contrary to that fact it is not the magic itself that is evil, but the wielder._

I couldn't help but agree with that line, my thoughts noting the radical differences of the personalities of the man in black and the girl who helped me long ago.

 _Dark magic is generally the most powerful magic available, stronger than Anima magic. Dark magic has the capability of dealing the most damage, however, it is also highly inaccurate. They are also very hard to wield due to their usage cost is at a higher rate in comparison to Anima magic, making it highly difficult to use consecutively._

 _A word of warning for those wishing to become a practitioner of the Elder magic. The Elder magic is highly influential on the user, it creates a sense of power within the user causing those of weak will to be easily swayed in a quest for more power, easily changing perspectives of white and black to shades of grey. The sense of right and wrong to a sense of what can be done instead._

I continued writing everything down long into the night.

It wasn't till the moon was high in the sky and the candle I was using was close to snuffing out that I decided to call it a night. But not before writing one last thing down.

 _Whoever you are, whatever you are. Who are you to me? Why have you decided to take control of my body?_

Probably not the best nor wisest questions to ask someone you can't physically talk to, but nonetheless it would have to do I decided before heading off to bed.

* * *

Shinning rays of light woke me up with a bolt.

I righted myself, the cold Feroxian air nipping my skin causing hair to raise but I dismissed it for shooting towards my journal.

There in the journal was more information on magic and beside it was _A Beginners Guide to Magic Theory_ flipped further ahead.

I deigned to ignore the book and flipped through my journal, intent on seeing if the person responded.

It was the latest page where I found a response.

 _The simplest way to answer your question is by going straight to the point._

 _I'm You._

 _I'm the you before everything went to shit, before we found ourselves in the Plegian Desert. I'm the you that retained all our memories prior to almost half-dying in the desert, before being tortured. I'm the you who was naught but a young boy that knew nothing._

My eyes bugged out as I read.

 _Technically, I'm the original, the first out of both of us. But you were created when things got too much for me, when the simple child couldn't take being tortured. You were created when my mind fractured from the torment, from the most painful moments of the 'experiment'. What was meant to happen was that I keep all the memories of the pain and got locked away far in the recess of our mind. Locked, forgotten, and unknown, while you began our life anew._

 _But as we both know that didn't happen._

 _Instead, the memories of torture and pain were shared between us, myself all of it, the moments you can't remember, where you blacked out are the ones the I remember, the worst of it._

 _I'm You, and you are me._

 _We're two sides of a coin, knowing of each other but unable to fully meet. Trust me, hurting you is the one thing I'd never do, If you die, I cease to exist and vice-versa._

 _On the topic of taking control of your body? That was unintentional._

 _When the sigils on our chest activated so did my conscious, awake and aware whenever you went to sleep. I've actually been awake since the night you recovered from the spell circle activating._

 _So yeah, I'm sort of going to be here whenever you fall asleep. When I fall asleep you come back to the world of the living._

 _Don't worry, I won't be doing anything too bad with our body, just mainly researching about the spell circle and what it does. Maybe even making schematics of things I remember from our life and whatnot._

 _My apologies I'm rambling, it's been a while since I've been this active and it's getting to me. I hope one day we can join back together, till then go a live your life, we've both deserved it._

 _P.S. Convey to Khan Flavia my apologies about the mess I left in her room, I was about to fall asleep and needed to make sure you started reading, which I'm glad you did by the way._

 _\- Mark_

I sat there stunned, looking over the last few lines.

I would've been less inclined to believe him if multiple things didn't add up such as the fact that there _are_ holes in my memories during the experiment, and the fact I don't remember a lot of things prior to waking up in the desert aside from a long vocabulary of words and understanding of many things.

I took a seat and let my body weight sink me down onto my bed. I buried my face in my hands and groaned.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Well here's the second chapter of Two-Sided Awakening. Also, this was always going to happen with Mark and Blanc, cause you know 'Two-Sided Awakening" and all that.**

 **Mark is basically the SI with all the knowledge while Blanc is an OC, however, Mark won't be changing too much in terms of the first half of the story concerning Gangrel and Emmeryn too much since he knows it's imperative to the timeline but will still be helping Blanc and Chrom to secure a peaceful future. Blanc is basically an extra character that can change the timeline with his actions but doesn't actually know the future.**

 **Canon Awakening begins next chapter people!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Beginning

**Two-Sided Awakening**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem nor anything belonging to them, that right belongs to Nintendo Systems. The only thing I own are my own original character/s and ideas I create for the story.**

 **Author's Note: Please read and review so I know what I should work on. Well, here we are with the third chapter of 'Two-Sided Awakening'.**

* * *

(South of Ylisstol – 4 Years Later – 3rd Person POV)

It was an average day for a trio of Shepherds, dutifully patrolling their nation for any dangerous beings such as bandits or wild animals in need of subduing, or even just anyone in need of help in general.

At least it's would have been if one of them hadn't currently been in the process of being chastised by another.

"Milord," one of the three spoke, a tall brown-haired man in bulky blue armor atop a horse, "I endeavor you to please inform me as to why you decided to give away not one, but two legendary treasures of the royal family away?"

Another responded in turn, a young handsome and well-muscled man with blue hair this time. "Frederick peace," the young man tried to assuage Frederick, "The man seemed like he was in desperate need of assistance, I felt giving them the Hero's and Exalts Brand would help them greatly."

"Oh, calm down Freddy, they both seemed nice enough so I think Chrom was in the right," the last of the trio cheered. "Especially the maid, can't remember her name though," she paused on the road in thought, her finger on her lips in concentration.

"That's beside the point milady," Frederick tried to reason once more.

The blue-haired man, Chrom, waved him off. "My sister is right Frederick, I wouldn't give those away if I didn't believe they were good people. Also, don't forget you decided to give Corrin one of your pebbles."

That seemed to knock the sails out of Frederick, a slight cloud of depression hanging over him, "I regret that as well, I seem to have given him the wrong pebble."

Chrom and Lissa both paused in their stride and looked at Frederick. "You gave him the wrong pebble?" Lissa asked the question that was on both of their minds.

Frederick nodded solemnly, making a strange sight for an armored man with a depressed air about him atop a horse, "I gave him my roundest pebble… I was meant to give him my second roundest one…" he sulked slightly before shaking it off and looked at them.

Only to find them both gone.

"Milord!? Milady!?" Frederick yelled in a slight panic, frantically looking around. After a few seconds of looking, he found them crouched over a figure face-down on the side of the road as he trotted over to them.

"Milord-" Frederick began only to be cut off.

"Chrom, we have to do SOMETHING!" Lissa frantically waved about at her brother.

Chrom looked beside him to her in confusion, "What do you propose we do then?"

Lissa stopped for a moment, her face visibly stalling, "I… I dunno…"

The figure suddenly began to roll itself over slowly, a black, purple, and gold coat become more visible, long white hair fanning out behind the figure, glistening pink lips and brown eyes revealing the figure in question was a young busty woman.

Chrom gave a kind and disarming smile to the woman as him and his sister leaned on their knees to gain a better look. "I see you're awake now," Chrome noted looking the woman over.

"Hey there!" Lissa piped up with a megawatt smile, the woman giving a guarded but nonetheless warm smile in return.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know?" Chrom extended a hand, "Give me your hand."

The woman grabbed his hand as she was pulled up to her feet, a small glimmer in her eyes, "I'm afraid it's much too early to be asking a woman for their hand in marriage isn't it? Oh my, so forcefully as well."

"Wha-?" Chrom sputtered in embarrassment, at least before his head got kicked back into gear, giving the giggling woman a glare in return for her comment. "Are you all right at least?"

The woman looked at him, then to Lissa, then Frederick and smiled back at Chrom, "Yes… thank you, Chrom."

"Oh, you know my name?" Chrom asked, unknown that behind him Frederick tensed.

"It's a bit hard not to…" she nodded over to Lissa, "I believe it was this one that yelled out your name earlier? It's a bit hard to ignore someone's name being yelled, no matter if I was asleep or not."

"Ah you heard that, did you?" Lissa smiled sheepishly, "Sorry about that."

"I'm actually rather glad you woke me up," the woman responded in kind, "Who knows what types of people may have happened upon me if you continued on your way?"

"You're quite right," Chrome spoke up, "What's your name, though? What brings you out this way lying face down on the road?"

The woman grinned before suddenly stopping, her voice stopping and starting back up at random intervals, "My name is… It's…. Hmm?"

"You don't remember your own name?" Chrom questioned.

The woman began to look around warily suddenly aware and taking in of her surroundings, nothing looking familiar to her, "I'm not sure if… I'm sorry, but where am I, exactly?"

Lissa's face shone like it had the answers to everything, "Hey, I've heard of this! It's called amnesia!"

To be fair she did have the answer.

Frederick, however, seemed less inclined to believe the lost woman. "My apologies but I'm afraid I find it quite hard to believe you scarcely remember your own name, this sounds too much like an ambush."

"B-But it's the truth," it was the woman's turn to sputter in the face of such accusations.

Chrom moved between the two, Frederick having moved forward atop his horse to better address the woman. "Frederick, what if what she says IS the truth? We can't just leave her here with nary a memory to her name, alone and confused. What sort of Shepherds would we be then?" Chrom asked of Frederick.

Frederick seemed reluctant to argue and even more reluctant for the woman to join the company of the trio, but nonetheless gave in, "Just the same, milord. I must emphasize caution, 'twould not do to allow a lone wolf into our flock."

Chrom seemed content with that, "Right then – we'll take her back to town and sort out this whole situation there."

The woman's eyes narrowed, "Now wait just a minute, do I not get my own say in this?" she asked indignantly.

Chrom placed his hands up and motioned to her calmingly, "Peace, my friend – I promise that we'll hear all you have to say once we reach the town. Now come, we have a fair walk ahead of us, it wouldn't be right for us to dally here all noon long."

The woman grumbled slightly but eventually acquiesced to Chrom's request, gaining speed to walk beside both Chrome and Lissa, Frederick taking up the rear with a wary eye.

It was ten minutes of awkward silence, at least for the woman and Frederick, for Chrom and Lissa found the silence to be quite companionable before it was broken by the woman.

"So, what shall you three be doing with me?" she asked, "Am I to be your prisoner, a hostage for you to keep at your leisure?"

Chrom gave a laugh while Lissa giggled before he calmed down enough to give her an answer, "Hah! Dear Naga of course not, you'll be free to go once we've established you mean no harm to the citizens of Ylisse."

The woman's visage became confused, her brow furrowing in wonder, "Ylisse? Is that where we are?"

Behind her, Frederick laughed, "You've nary heard of the Halidom? Ha! Someone pay this actress, she plays quite the convincing fool! The furrowed brow is especially even more credible…"

Chrom sighed slightly and looked over his shoulder, "Frederick, please." he pleaded with the knight.

Frederick merely gave a nod but motioned that he was still keeping an eye on the woman.

Chrom turned back to the woman and addressed her previous question. "This land is known as the Halidom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the Exalt of the Halidom."

"My apologies but I've realized we've yet to properly introduce ourselves. I suppose introductions are in order…" Chrom spoke, an embarrassed countenance overcoming him as he rubbed the back of his head.

Chrom straightened himself while giving a friendly smile, "My name is Chrom – but then, you obviously already knew that. The tiny delicate one beside me is my little sister, Lissa." he motioned to the peppy blonde girl beside him who seemed to have gotten irate at his introduction.

"I am not tiny, and I am certainly NOT delicate!" she growled out, the sound itself coming out more endearing rather than intimidating.

"Hmph!" she hmphed, upturning her nose at her brother, instead turning her attention to the woman, "Ignore my brother, please. He can be quite the thick-headed one at times," she said while expertly ignoring the 'Hey!' coming from her brother. "You're quite lucky the Shepherds found you, you know? Brigands would've been something rude to be woken up to!" Lissa smiled, her energetic form almost infectious.

The woman stopped for a second, allowing herself to absorb the information before slowly beginning, "You're shepherds? You tend to sheep, go running after them and feeding them…in full body armor, with sword and shield? _Sheep_?" she couldn't help but stress the last part.

Chrom laughed almost knowingly, "It's quite the dangerous job you should know, just ask Frederick the Wary here." he said while motioning to the stoic knight behind him.

Frederick's face seemed to be made of granite as he spoke, "A title I shall wear with pride, milord. Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution."

His face seemed to relax slightly, not my much though when he looked at the woman in front of him. "I have every wish to trust you, stranger, just as I have with other good people, strangers just like you, however, my station mandates otherwise."

The woman smiled understandingly, "I understand sir, I'd do no less if it were myself in your shoes. After all, I wouldn't be Robin if I didn't."

Suddenly she froze, "I just remembered that… how odd. I suppose that's one mystery solved.

"Robin? That sounds foreign?" Chrom tested on his tongue, "…ah, well. We can discuss it later. We're almost at the town after all. Once we-"

"Chrom, look! The town!" Lissa interrupted him, she raised a finger pointing to a nearby town having been set on fire.

"Damn it! The town's ablaze!" Chrom cursed while withdrawing his sword, a beautiful golden sword with a red handle and unique guard, "Some blasted brigands, no doubt… Frederick, Lissa! Quickly!"

Fredrick made a small motion to Robin who looked lost and unsure, white hair flowing in the smoky winds.

"Milord, what about her?" Frederick asked.

"Unless she's been set ablaze as well, she'll have to wait! The townsfolk come first!" he yelled before breaking off into a dead-sprint towards the village.

"Aptly put, milord," Fredrick nodded in satisfaction while assisting Lissa in getting atop his horse.

"Let's go already, we have people to heal!" Lissa shouted spurning Frederick to flick his reins, his horse galloping at high-speed leaving Robin in the dust.

Robin stood there stunned, "But what about-?" she continued to watch for a few seconds as the fire in the distance slowly enlarged.

After another brief moment of indecision, Robin bolted off after the trio who were already within the walls of the town.

* * *

(Southtown – 3rd Person POV)

A largely muscled bandit by the name of Garrick stood in front of the central cathedral within the burning town, a disgustingly malicious smile spread across his face.

"Gwahaha! Get to it lads! Grab anything shiny and put the rest to the torch!" he shouted with a wave of his swords, bandits among him cheering as they began to loot and pillage the blazing houses. "We gots an example to set for these Ylissean shits! Ain't that right, lass?" he asked while leering forward unto a hapless woman ahead of home.

She backed away slowly, "S-Stay away from me! Please! Someone, anyone! HEEEEELP!" she shouted before running away to the central square.

On cue, the three Shepherds made their way to the central square where the woman ran past the way they came.

Lissa deftly got off from atop the horse, "Chrom we have to stop them!"

"Don't worry – after today, these bandits won't be bothering anyone ever again," Chrom uttered with gritted determination.

Quick footsteps caused the trio to swiftly turn around, tense and combat-ready. Only it was Robin from which the footsteps were emanating from as she came rushing and panting from around a corner, coming to a stop before them.

"Robin!?" Chrom exclaimed, "You followed us! Why?"

"I… I'm not certain myself," she gathered herself, "I'm armed, however, and I know my way around a fight if you'll have me," she spoke but her attitude showing she wouldn't be taking 'no' for an answer.

Chrom smiled gratefully at her attitude, "Of course – strength in numbers after all. Just stay close!" he readied himself turning his attention to the Garrick and his following of bandits.

Frederick trotted up to Robin, "Remember Robin, we face practiced thieves and murders. They shall grant us no quarter, nor we them. It is to kill or to be killed." he advised while hefting a silver spear to his side, the point at chest height.

Robin nodded before they all moved as one across the battlefield that was previously the village of Southtown.

Swarms of bandits and thieves made their way from the central cathedral square over the bridge and over to them.

Robin withdrew a sword from her hip, just underneath her cloak as they came to a stop behind some rubble, everyone carefully taking into account the situation.

"So, Robin, I see you wear a sword. Is it-" Chrom began as he took note of her weapon of choice only for him to abruptly stop, watching as she withdrew a yellow book from the depths of her cloak's pocket. "Wait is that a tome? You know magic?"

Robin gave him an unsure glance, "I… believe so? It feels familiar, but I suppose I should check."

Chrom rose a tentative eyebrow at that, "You 'believe so'? Perhaps I'll keep a few paces away from you for the time being…" he murmured, slowly moving away to another piece of rubble to take cover behind.

"No, I can control it. I'm sure." Robin waved off his worries, unknowing of the fact he was already next to Frederick, "Now how does this work again? Ah, yes… hold it here, channel the magic…" she muttered before a bolt of lightning shot from a series of spell circle appearing above her striking a nearby bandit with a flash of light.

Robin grinned at that, "Nice!"

She did notice, however, when a small yellow blob rushed to her side with an excitable air, "We'll see who's delicate!" Lissa shouted beside Robin.

Robin looked at the little girl, eyebrow raised and a smirk on her lips, "I'm sure we will Lissa, who knows I might be the more delicate one."

"I like you already!" Lissa cheered happily, her countenance shifted ever so slightly "I may not be able to attack like Chrom, but when you get injured? I'LL be the one stitching your bones back together, care of my trusty staff! You just tell me where to go, Robin!"

Robin smiled, "Okay then, you'll be with me for now. Chrom and Frederick both seem like they can handle themselves quite well."

She looked forward, noting the number of foes nearby. There was a total of eight bandits, three near her and Lissa while the rest were closer to Frederick and Chrom, twice in comparison to their current number, almost thrice if they excluded Lissa.

"I can hit two of them from here, then I'll head in and take out some more," she murmured under her breathe before looking at Lissa, "Once I take the first two out and start fighting the third you heal me up, and we'll head over to Chrom and Frederick in case they'll still be needing help. Sounds good?

"Yup!" Lissa nodded, her grip around her heal staff tightening. To the side, both Chrom and Fredrick looked over to Robin who made a countdown with her fingers. Once her fingers closed into a fist the battle began.

"Thunder!" Robin bolted up and yelled, lightning gathering and striking the first bandit in the chest sending him hurtling away like a ragdoll.

"Thunder!" she shouted once more before rushing forward, bronze sword in hand and Thunder tome in the other.

She grabbed the second bandits falling and singed dead body and shoved it towards the remaining bandit, the others preoccupied with the blue-haired warrior and his faithful knight to be of any assistance, causing him to stumble.

By the time he righted himself, he barely had any time to block Robin's bronze sword as it came rushing down with an overhead swing.

"You're finished!" Robin shouted, her sword suddenly changing paths as it swung past the bandit's sword only to be thrust forward, piercing through his chest and erupting out the other side with a spurt of blood.

Her sword slid from his body, causing the dead corpse to fall and crumple to the floor without any support.

"That was incredible!" Lissa called as she made her way to Robin, Chrom and Frederick doing the same, their own opponents already dispatched.

"Is anyone hurt?" Chrom checked everyone once over, "It would be foolish to leave a wound untreated."

"Indeed," Robin nodded in agreement, a swipe of her sword flicking the blood away. "Timely use of a staff from Lissa or a vulnerary should prevent the worst of wounds we'd sustain."

Frederick nodded, grabbing small flasks from the side of his steed and handed one to each member. "These are the only vulneraries I have on hand, use them only if needed," Frederick advised, stowing away the last vulnerary back into the bag on his side, "Keep in mind Lady Lissa is more than able to handle any injuries sustained."

Lissa smiled happily at that before becoming serious as Chrom motioned for them to all move forward.

They each made their way through the town's central square past all the corpses of bandits and townsfolk alike, thankfully most of the corpses belonged to the bandits Robin noted as she gave them all a quick glance.

She then allowed her view to drift to the enemies, strange things popping to the forefront of her mind as she did so.

Chrom noticed her brow furrowing as she looked at the enemies, "Still with us, Robin?"

She gave a small nod in return, her attention only slightly diverted, most of it still keeping on the bandits, in particularly the leader. "Hmm…" she hummed, "It's strange. Here on the battlefield, I can… well, I can 'see' things."

Chrom cocked his head at her as if she'd suddenly grown as second and third head, "See things? Like what?

Robin gave a glance to Chrom and motioned to her side, to her sword, then back at the bandits. "I can see their strengths, their weaponry, how they'll move…" she addressed him

"I must've studied this somewhere…" Robin muttered absentmindedly as they continued moving forward.

"So, what you're saying is you can size up the enemy at a glance, understand the flow of the battle with just a thought?" Chrom questioned, continuing to be amazed at his companion's newfound strategical prowess.

Robin only nodded in confirmation watching warily as they'd almost fully crossed the bridge, the leader of the bandits ordering the rest to form ranks as they approached.

"Here, Sheepy sheepy! It's time for a slaughter! HYAHAHAHA!" the leader, Garrick walked forward, banging his shield and sword together, a manic laugh leaving his lips.

"Robin, we'll follow your lead, you tell us what to do and we'll follow," Chrom spoke up behind her, both Lissa and Frederick nodding in support.

"Okay then," Robin smiled thankfully, "Frederick and Lissa, you two will be working together to take out the small fry. Chrom and I are going to hit the leader hard and fast." The others gave a signal in understanding.

Robin looked at the three of them, making sure they understood their roles. Lissa was already making her way atop Fredricks steed. "Chrom, you're going to be close-combat while I'll be ranged. Our goal is to get rid of the leader first, with him gone the bandits should panic leaving them for easy pickings. After that we just need to get rid of the rest, sound good?"

"Sounds good," Chrom readied his sword and charged Garrick. They met halfway, sparks flickering as their blades stuck one another. Garrick tried smashing his head in with his shield but Chrom kicked him away, sending the man flying a few paces back.

Lissa and Frederick charged the smaller bandits, each swipe of Fredericks spear sent blood flying while Lissa healed his injuries with a glow of her staff. They worked together like a well-oiled machine, stabs and swipes from Frederick cleaning out the bandits left and right, Lissa's staff rarely having to come into use aside from the stray sword managing to make its way past Fredericks defenses.

Robin wasn't doing nothing while the others worked, with a yellow glow of her tome she shouted.

"THUNDER!"

Spell circles converged upon where Garrick and Chrom fought, the bolt of lightning came smiting down as Chrom leaped backward from a swing of the leader's sword, striking Garrick where he stood.

"ARRGH!" Garrick screamed in pain as his body convulsed, sparks moving across the skin of his body and the whites of his eyes fully visible.

"It's time to die!" Chrom shouted, not waiting a moment thrust his sword with all his might, the blade stabbing clean through Garrick's gut. With a flick of his wrist, the golden sword came sliding back out.

"URGH!" Garrick grunted one last time before his body collapsed to the ground unmoving.

"May you go to wherever you deserve," Chrom prayed lowly before turning, quickly moving onto the stray bandits that Frederick and Lissa had yet to finish off.

It was only a scant couple of minutes before swinging swords, thrust spears, and bolts of crashing thunder cleared the rest of the danger from the town leaving the blood of their enemies to run the streets.

They met back up, Robin coming to a stop at the central fountain, waiting as Chrom, Fredrick and Lissa approached.

"Well that's the end of that," Robin said with a grin, happy she decided to do the right thing and assist the trio.

"Lucky for the town that we were close by!" Lissa cheered as she dismounted with a small hop, daintily dusting off her yellow dress free of any dirt, "But holy wow, Robin! You were incredible! Swords, sorcery, AND tactics! Is there anything you can't do?"

Robin gave a smile, rubbing her arms in embarrassment, "Well… maybe? I'm still not sure about a lot of things."

"Well, you're no helpless victim of circumstance, that much is for sure," Chrom said kindly as he sheathed his sword.

Frederick frowned slightly at that, his suspicions were not abated if anything they'd only grown with the young woman's newfound abilities and talents. "Indeed, perhaps you'd also be able to supply a capable explanation as to how you've come to be here at last?"

"I understand your skepticism, Sir Frederick, truly I do," Robin grimaced slightly, the not-so-subtle stare from the armored man being quite unhidden. "I'm afraid that unfortunately, I'm still unable to explain why I'm here, much less as to why only some of my knowledge and memories have returned. Please, believe me. I've shared all that I've to know." she pleaded, trying to assuage the man's scrutiny.

Chrom decided to intervene between Frederick and Robin once more, "You fought to save Ylissean lives. My heart says that's more than enough."

Frederick, on the other hand, lived up to his title, "And your mind, milord? Would you heed its council as well?"

Chrom turned to address him, "Fredrick, the Shepherds could use someone of Robin's caliber and talents," he said while motioning to the woman behind him. "We've brigand and unruly neighbors, all looking to spill blood and bloody our soil with the lifeblood of our people. Would you really deny us such an able tactician?"

Frederick grimaced, his lord making a sound and convincing argument no matter how much he didn't want it to be.

Chrom looked over his shoulder at Robin who was becoming rather shy about how the conversation was now about her in such detail. "Besides, I believe her story, no matter how odd as it might be."

"Odd is an understatement," Frederick muttered before looking at the young white-haired woman, "As long as you assist us I shall allow you to join us under milord's command. However, should you seek to harm the Shepherds or our flock…"

The threat was left in the air.

Robin nodded gratefully and understandingly at him in return.

"So how about it?" Chrom extended a hand, "Would you be willing to join us in our cause, Robin?"

The woman smiled and extended her hand and grasping Chrom's with a shake, noticeably causing parts of her to jiggle distractingly much to Chrom's embarrassment, "I'd be honored."

As the quartet made their way back through the town, villagers began to peak out of their windows and spill back onto the streets, carefully moving the deceased townsfolk to a house which was still ablaze. A small prayer was given to the deceased villagers as the house was used as an improvised pyre.

* * *

"Did you notice, milord?" Frederick brought to attention something that had been bugging him about the bandits, "The brigands spoke with a Plegian accent."

"Plegian?" Something pulled at her inside Robin when Frederick said that, once more when she repeated the word. "What's that?"

"Plegia is Ylisse's westerly neighbor," Chrom explained, a low growl emanating from the back of his throat as he did so. "For a fair while now they've been sending bandits and brigands into our territory in hopes of instigating a war. Of course, they always deny it, saying they're merely rogue groups not associated with Plegia."

"And it's the poor townsfolk who suffer! Totally innocent, and totally helpless…" Lissa started off strong then finished with a mumble.

"They do have us milady: The Shepherds to protect the sheep." Frederick placed a gloved hand on her shoulder causing her to look up at him, a gentle smile on his face. "Do not be swept up in your anger, lest it begins to cloud your judgment and actions."

"I know, I know…" Lissa nodded and took a deep breathe, smiling gratefully at her companion, "Don't worry, Freddy. I'll get used to all this soon…"

Suddenly one of the villagers, the village chief most likely due to his age and different style of clothes, approached them with a smile and open arms.

"Milord, please! You must stay the night! We are simple folk by simple means, but we would gladly toast to your valor in battle with a feast!"

Frederick shook his head as he rose a hand in a stopping motion, "A most generous offer, sir, and no doubt your hospitality would be grand and highly appreciated, however, I'm afraid this grouped of ours must hurry back to Yllistol."

Lissa, on the other hand, was already seemingly preparing for the feast completely unaware of what Frederick was saying. "Dark meat only for me, medium well, and no salt in the soup. I simply- Wait, what!? We're not staying!?" Lissa finally caught up to what he'd said.

Frederick nodded, a hearty smile on his face.

"But Frederick, it's nearly dusk!"

Frederick's smile turned genial, "When night falls, we'll make camp. Eat off the land, make our bed of twigs and the like… I believe mentioned you would be "getting used to all this"?

"Yeah, I said I'd get used to all this _soon_!" she placed an emphasis on soon.

Frederick remained stalwart in his decision.

"Frederick?"

"Yes, milady?"

"Sometimes I hate you…" Lissa mumbled with a pout.

"It's as you say milady, only sometimes," Frederick pointed out, the cheery smile not leaving his face.

Robin couldn't help but watch the interaction between the two in a mix of fascination and a tiny fraction of incredulity. "You've quite the stern lieutenant there," she made a note of it to Chrom.

Lissa having overheard, replied, "Yeah, well, 'stern' is one name for it. I can think of a few others!" she pouted once more, fuming at the large man.

Chrom smiled happily at the three of them, their interactions having lightened the mood of not just the group, but the townsfolk who watched on with fascinated abandon. "Frederick only smiles when he's about to bring down the axe," he joked.

Robin laughed, tears forming in her eyes as she doubled over slightly, "Duly noted."

" _*ahem*_ You all do realize I AM still present, correct?" the man in question asked, slightly annoyed.

Chrom grinned at him, "Oh, we realize."

Robin couldn't help but laugh at how blunt he was.

"Milord remains as amusing as ever," With a roll of his eyes, Frederick motioned to move forward, his steed already moving ahead with him atop. "Now then, shall we be going?" he asked looking back at the trio.

"All right, all right Frederick we're coming," Chrom laughed as he jogged along, Lissa and Robin following close behind.

He turned to look at his new ivory-haired companion.

"Ready to go, Robin? The capital isn't far."

* * *

Now following our quartet of Shepherds, deep into the woods north of Southtown. They were hardy individuals, each renowned for their sturdiness and character. Survivors of the Wild, some would call them.

At least if this was an epic describing their adventures. Unfortunately, it was not to be. The reality was that one of them was as sturdy as a brick wall, another had the tendency to break said brick walls, a third had no idea what she was doing whilst the last was a delicate flower.

"I told you- it's getting dark already!" Lissa protested as they walked, following as Frederick cut down brambles and sticks that blocked his path. "Ech! And now bugs are out! Noisy, disgusting bugs that buzz around and crawl over and bite you when- Ack! Won gophin mah mouph! Blech! Ptooey!"

"Is she always this… lively?" Robin endeavored to find the best word to describe the petite girl, choosing to fall on a rather tame description.

Chrom chuckled, "Only when she's far out of her comfort zone or someone steals her batch of honey cakes after she's finished baking them."

Robin glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, "That last one sounds much too oddly specific."

A wince marred Chrom's face, "Yeah… that one was me, don't let her tiny frame deceive. She has a mean swing with her staff. She'll hit you, heal you, then hit you again."

"Come now Lady Lissa, hardship builds character," Frederick spoke to her, "Would you like to assist me and gathering dinner for tonight?"

Lissa, meanwhile, was still blissfully spitting out the remains of a rather big bug from her mouth. "Tpht! Tpht! Yeeeeeeuck!"

…

"I think I swallowed it."

Lissa and Robin both gagged, Lissa for actually swallowing it and Robin at the thought. Once Lissa finished gagging, she glared petulantly at Frederick, "I'll pass on gathering dinner, thanks. I think I've built QUITE enough character for a single day!"

Robin looked at her and decided to take pity, "I'll go get us something to eat Frederick, be back in a bit." she said while dropping all the things she was carrying before disappearing off into the darkness.

"Wai- aaand she's gone…" Chrom tried to stop her, about to cite how it was dangerous in the dark but she was already gone.

"Will she be alright?" Lissa questioned worriedly for her new friend.

"She should be, she's quite strong after all," Frederick absentmindedly noted as he began setting up camp.

"Smart as well," Chrom noted as he picked up Robin's dropped equipment revealing four sleeping bags and two tents, "Must've gotten these from the town… when did she even go off to get these? We left almost immediately."

"I don't know but dibs on one of the tents!" Lissa cheered.

"Lissa! There's two tents, enough for us to share! Me and Frederick, and you and Robin!" Chrom reprimanded her, which she promptly shrugged off.

A distant cry of "Thunder!" could be heard with three successive bright flashes of light could be seen through the darkness of the woods. Seconds later a loud thump resounded within the woods.

"Uh…" Robins' voice emanated from the darkness, "Can someone help me carry this guy? He's a bit too big for me!"

Chrom gave a sigh as he placed Robin's bag back down, "I'll go and assist her. You two get a fire going."

Fredrick merely nodded, a fireplace already having been made and was in the middle of lighting it as Chrom followed to where the flashes of light came from.

Lissa began unpacking the tents and sleeping rolls before a cry came from where Chrom had gone.

"AWESOME!" Chrom could be heard cheering. Lissa and Frederick looked at each other and shrugged, returning to their tasks at hand.

By the time Lissa and Frederick finished setting up the tents and bedrolls and alighting the fire, Chrom and Robin returned with their prey in hand and placing it down next to the fire.

A very big, fuzzy prey.

Frederick and Lissa both gulped nervously as they watched Robin and Chrom joyously begin skinning and harvesting the giant bear.

* * *

"Mmm… it's been too long since I last had bear meat." Chrom groaned in delight. "Delicious…"

Lissa grimaced as she watched him eat away at the unholy concoction of bear meat stew with ribs both he and Robin joined forces together to create.

Chrom noticed her cringing in the corner of his eye. "What's wrong Lissa? Dig in."

"Couldn't we have gotten something that normal people eat for once? I mean, who eats bears?! This is like meddling with the food chain!" Lissa complained, "Right Robin?"

No response came from the white-haired tactician.

"Uh… Robin?"

Lissa gazed over at the woman only to notice her consuming ravenously at the stew.

 _*Munch, munch, slurp*_

Lissa gave a depressed sigh, "I just remembered you were the one that got this. Of course, you'd be enjoying it, especially after probably not eating for days…"

Robin gave her no quarter, continuing to eat at an astonishing pace. What was more astonishing was that nothing spilled over or missed her lips.

Chrom rolled his eyes at his sister, "Just eat it, Lissa. Meat is meat."

Lissa scoffed huffily, "Since when does meat smell like old boots?! Wait I take that back- even old leather boots smell better!"

Frederick sat beside her deigning to add his piece to the conversation. "Every experience makes us stronger, milady. Even those we don't enjoy."

Lissa gave him a stink-eye, "Really? Then why don't I see YOU eating, Frederick?

Beads of sweat rapidly formed on Frederick's brow. "Me? Oh, well… I'm not hungry. I… I had a large lunch! Yes, quite," he excused himself lamely, never mind the growl of hunger that arose from his stomach.

Lissa turned her nose at him, not believing him for a second, "Yeah right Frederick!"

* * *

"…Huh?" Chrom awoke from his spot in his sleeping bag, something in the air sending warning signals down his spine. He exited his sleeping bag, carefully ensuring not to awaken Frederick, and exited the tent altogether.

At the same time, Lissa exited her own tent, similarly ensuring not to wake up Robin.

"* _yawn*_ What's wrong big brother?" she yawned and stretched as she noticed Chrom exit his own tent at the same time as herself, strapping Falchion to his side.

Chrom gave a small comforting smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, but… something seems to be amiss…" he trailed off.

Lissa's eyes narrowed, long since trusting her brother's instincts given how uncannily sharp they were, "Define 'something'."

"I'm not sure…" he admitted slowly as he looked at their surroundings, nothing seeming to be out of place, "I think I'll have a look around."

"Not alone you won't!" half of Lissa's body disappeared back into her tent, reappearing with her trusty healing staff in hand. "I'm coming too!" she stood determined in her choice.

Chrom only smiled warmly, "Heh. Thanks, Lissa. Might wanna quite down a bit though."

The two ventured into the darkness, the moonlight being the only source of light aiding them as they walked deeper and deeper into the forest.

Minutes began to pass like streams of water.

"It sure is dark…" Lissa commented airily.

Chrom's eyes narrowed, an unnatural premonition building within his gut.

"…and quiet. Where did the birds and bats go?" Lissa moved close to her brother, something beginning to feel really off with their surroundings.

Chrom stopped, Lissa right behind him, "Something's wrong here… we should go!" he yelled, suddenly turning back the way he earth beneath their feet began to shake and rumble, crack forming in the dry soil beneath them.

"Gods, what- Agh! What is this madness?! Lissa, stay close!"

Lissa screamed in fright as Chrom held her close to him. The earth continued to break and shatter around them, the vibrations increasing in intensity and frequency, multitudes of cracks forming and leaves falling from the tree around them like flies.

"Lissa, run."

"Huh?"

"I mean it! Go!" Chrom gave her a light push, Lissa got the message and began sprinting back to where they came from.

Chrom sprinted full-pace quickly catching up to her as the ground they previously stood upon split. Lava began to spurt from the cracks on the ground, flooding the area with magma as fireballs came hurtling down like the anger of the gods.

"Hey!" Chrom called out to his sister as he jumped over a gap, "This way!"

Lissa steadily followed behind, increasing the distance between them and the splitting landmass. Soon they came to a stop panting, watching from afar as the ground continued to ooze lava and spit fireballs.

They stood there silently watching in fascinated horror.

At least till a golden light shone above them, golden concentric spell circles spinning and turning above them, a shining bright light emanating from it as they turned around. Almost like a portal in the sky.

Suddenly two red beings crawled from the portal, falling to the ground with two dull thumps as they crashed.

Chrom withdrew Falchion from his waist, moving between the two beings that convulsed upon the ground and his sister.

Suddenly one of the two wriggling forms stood up and rushed Chrom, glowing baleful red eyes shining in the golden light.

With a swing of his sword, Chrom skilfully cutting through the red mass only to be stunned as it recovered and began attacking him with reckless abandon. With a block of his sword the claws of the being failed to pierce him, and with another swing killed the monster causing it to evaporate in smoke, even the blood on his blade disappearing into black smoke.

Off to the side, Lissa screamed in terror, Chrom locking onto her being cornered by the other monster.

"Lissa!"

Behind him the portal glowed again, this time sending a human form descending from the sky. The form landed revealing itself to be a mysterious blue-haired masked swordsman that dashed forward and blocked the blow that was about to have cleaved Lissa in two.

Chrom stood there surprised as the swordsman struggled. The swordsman gave a grunt of exertion before yelling in annoyance, his strangely toned voice breaking Chrom from his surprise.

"Help!"

"…Right" with a swing of his sword, Chrom decapitated the monster as it was distracted trying to get past the swordsman.

As the beast returned to smoke, Chrom sheathed his sword and turned his attention in thanks to the mysterious swordsman. "Quite an entrance. What's your name?"

The man looked on in silence.

Suddenly, the bushes rustled and burst open revealing Frederick on his steed and Robin who seemed to have just woken up in a hurry judging by her frazzled hair and bug-eyed stare but nonetheless ready to fight with her Thunder tom and sword.

"Milord! Milady! Are you hurt?" Frederick began to fret over the siblings, Robin right there beside him.

"Frederick! Robin!" Lissa cried in relief.

Robin glanced around, "Are such horrific creatures such a commonplace sight in the lands?"

Chrom shook his head in negative, "They're not from Ylisse, I promise you that."

"No one is injured, then? Thank the gods…" Fredrick finished looking the two over, satisfied neither were injured.

Lissa grinned thankfully before gasping, remembering the swordsman who protected her. "Thank the man who saved me! If it wasn't for him, I'd be…" she looked around, "Hey, where'd he go?"

Frederick readied himself as he noticed more of the creatures coming out of the woodworks, these ones slightly scrawnier than the previous two and brown in coloration. "We can worry about him later; AFTER we put these… abominations... to the blade. Eyes open, now. We know nothing about these enemies."

"Right." Chrom nodded and drew his sword, pointed straight at the foul beasts.

The other also readied themselves for a fight.

"Hmm?" Robin mumbles as she noticed a couple of buildings dotting the landscape, "Are those…?"

Frederick looked over to where she was looking at, nodding understandingly, "Abandoned forts, yes."

"Then we should take shelter in them whenever possible. No doubt they'll offer a distinct advantage in battle." A plan began to form in Robin's head, seemingly taking things into consideration at the flick of a switch, "We can try binging them into the fort and take them out one by one as they pass the entrances perhaps?"

Chrom nodded in acceptance, "It's a sound plan as any."

The four reached one of the forts in record time and funneled the horrid creatures through the entryway. Chrom and Frederick slicing and thrusting their weapons away at them while Robin offered ranged support in the form of multiple bolts of lightning with the use of her tome.

"Lissa! Go up top and see how much is still coming! Chrom, you go with her! Frederick should be able to keep them out of reach with his spear!" Robin ordered.

Chrom broke off while Frederick centered himself in the middle of the entryway, the beasts slowly ambling through the archway only to either be stabbed through the chest with a spear or electrocuted till they went up in a puff of smoke.

Chrom and Lissa made their way up the fort and overlooked the battlefield. They watched as a couple dozen more of the beasts made their way to the fort, one, in particular, looking quite nasty. Lissa, however, noticed as two dots on the horizon made their way towards them, one in red and the other in silver-blue.

"Chrom, it's Sully!" Lissa cheered as she pointed forward.

"Who's that beside her?" Chrom wondered.

"I dunno-" Lissa said before being cut off by Robin down below.

"I need a sitrep! How many more are coming, we might not be able to hold it here for long!" Robin shouted, her voice visibly strained.

Chrom and Lissa nodded to each other and ran back down below.

They came to a sight of a weary Frederick, his lance slightly dulled and a tired Robin who continued to throw a Thunder at any beast that came close.

"Robin, there's maybe two dozen more of them, including one big and nasty one," Lissa summarised quickly.

Robin cursed, "Damn it, this is bad. We don't have enough space here if they converge on us."

"We have two more reinforcements, Sully, a fellow shepherd and an unknown, both just ahead." Chrom supplied.

Robin nodded, a plan forming, "Okay, okay."

"Lissa, saddle up with Frederick," Robin ordered, Lissa quickly to follow. "Everyone we're going to meet up with the other two while there are no enemies. We need to be swift cause this might be our only window. GO!"

The four bolted out of the fort, the beasts just a couple hundred paces away, the chief of the beasts visible.

As they approached the two, arguing could be heard.

* * *

"Sorry, Ruffles – no time for this. Onward!" The woman in red armor ignored the man beside her, fully intent on catching up with her captain.

"Virion! Er, my name. It's Virion. W-wait! Where are you going? Pray, at least tell me your name!" the man called out behind her as he ran to catch up with her.

The woman slowed to a trot as the man caught up, "I'm Sully… and I'm a Shepherd.

"'Sully'! How divine! A starkly beautiful name, as befits it owner, truly." Virion began waxing on, "Will you marry me, my dearest Sully?"

"Will I what now?" Sully questioned as she came to a dead stop, noticing of her captain just a few leagues ahead. "Oh wait, I get it... This is a joke. And when I put my boot through your face—that's the punch line."

"I realize my manly figure and noble bearing can be overwhelming. 'Tis common! So please, don't feel pressured to answer right a—"

"How's THIS for an answer?!" Sully lashed her foot out in annoyance, striking Virion in the face.

"OOF! G-goodness, but those shapely legs certainly can kick, can't they..." Virion went tumbling to the floor clutching his swelling cheek, unable to move temporarily as Sully made to move on forward. "P-please, milady! Allow me to accompany you, at least! Mine is a cold, empty world without you. I shall be your most willing servant, and you, in turn, will give my life purpose..."

Sully let out a sigh, "Fine… Anything to shut you up."

Virion looked up at her with stars in his eyes.

"What?" Sully noticed his staring. "Stop looking at me like that!"

The others finally reached them, all of them panting in exhaustion except for Frederick who was as fit as a daisy.

"* _huff*_ If you're done… _*huff*_ maybe you could help us!?" Chrom huffed, trying to get his lungs back in order.

"Right away Commander!" Sully saluted and readied her spear.

Chrom waved over at Robin who finally regained functionality with her airways and was readying once more for battle "* _huff*_ Robin's out new tactician, follow her orders, she's kept us alive thus far."

Sully looked at Frederick with a raised eyebrow who merely conceded. With a shrug, she looked over at Robin. "So what's the plan?"

"Ahem. Goddesses and gentlemen, might I have your attention?" Virion coughed behind Sully, grabbing everyone's attention. "I, as it happens, am an archer! ...The archest of archers, in fact. As such, I attack most effectively from a distance. So kindly keep me one step away from peril if you would!"

Chrom rose an eyebrow and looked over at Sully, "He with you?"

Sully made a so-so gesture and rolled her eyes while pointing at the silver-blue haired gentleman.

"Good enough for me," Chrom decided, "So Robin, what's the plan?"

Robin stood there for a moment and assessed the group composition. "Sully, you're a cavalier right?" she asked.

"One of the Shepherds best!" she grinned proudly.

Robin nodded and turned her attention to Virion. "You, how far can you shoot?"

"I can shoot leagues away milady, far enough to strike the gods themselves should I so will I-" he began before quickly being stopped.

"There is no time for your theatrics, we have abominations falling from the sky and lava spilling from the earth! I just need a damned answer!" Robin grabbed him by the scruff of his cravat and pulled him close, her hand crackling with lightning as she screamed at him. Once she was done getting her point across as shown by his sweating countenance she let him go. "Once again, how far can you shoot!?" Robin once more asked, no demanded.

"Two leagues!" Virion yelped, highly shaken by being thoroughly manhandled by such a beauty.

"Good," Robin growled, her anger rapidly abating in the midst of the battlefield, the tactician within demanding perfection in such a situation. "Where's their leader? Big, nasty one, looks different than the rest."

"Six leagues to the West," came Frederick's succinct response.

"Okay," Robin looked at everyone, "Here's what we'll do. Frederick and Sully, you two are our vanguards, you'll be clearing the small fries that take up the front, we start when you're both ready," They both nodded and readied their horses beside each other, shields up and spears pointed forward.

"Chrom, you and Lissa will be taking care of any remaining ones. Virion and I can take the chief out from range but stay nearby just in case things get ugly."

Chrom and Lissa nodded, Virion still shaken by her demanding presence earlier but nonetheless acquiring to her orders.

Sully and Frederick began to charge forward ahead of the group, quickly trampling the abomination under hooves, stabbing any that got to close on the sides with their spear or bashing them in with their shields.

Behind them Chrom and Lissa took care of the stragglers, Chrom swiftly decapitating their heads while Lissa followed behind ensuring he didn't get hurt.

Robin and Virion lagged behind slightly, drawing their respective weapons, a tome and bow and arrow as Sully and Frederick split off to the left and right leaving the Chief in clear view of both ranged fighters.

"This one is for the bards to sing praises of!" Virion notched an arrow and let it fly, another one being notched and flown but a second later, each clearly piercing the creature in its eyes, causing it to stagger and flail with no eyesight.

Robin followed up with three successive bolts of lightning, each one blasting the creature in the chest and covering it with smoke.

Silence reigned from where it stood as smoke and dust clouded it from sight.

Two glowing purple eyes pierced through the dust.

"Curses…" Virion cursed before notching another arrow and letting it fly. The arrow flew between the glowing purple and made impact with little resistance.

The glowing eyes swayed then stilled.

"RAAAGH!" with a roar the creature burst through the dust.

"Shit, Chrom!" Robin yelled while charging up one more blast of lightning.

Concentric spell circle wove and spun in the air above her while Virion continued to nock and shoot arrows with abandon, taking a step back for every arrow he shot. The creature still kept running as it rapidly became punctured with arrows almost akin to a pincushion.

Robin began to grow desperate and let her building spell loose.

"THUNDER!/HYAAGH!" two voices shouted in sync.

Behind Robin a metallic blur whizzed past her and impaled itself within the monster revealing it to be a spear. As the spell released and struck the monster, bolts of electricity rapidly converged on the spear causing it to vibrate within the monster.

With a final zap of electricity, the monster fell, the spear bonelessly sliding out of its chest as it puffed into black smoke.

"Hah, good one newbie!" Sully cheered behind Robin as she moved forward and grasped her spear. "Didn't know that would happen!"

Robin shook her head, "Neither did I, didn't expect someone to throw their spear at the same time I released my spell."

"Huh… guess we're just lucky then." Sully shrugged.

Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa reconvened, all of the monstrosities within the area having been taken care of.

"It seems all the creatures have been vanquished. This young man took care of the others," Frederick motioned to his side revealing the mysterious swordsman from earlier, not seeming to say anything.

Lissa moved up to him. "Um, I never got to thank you...for before. So… thank you. You were very brave."

The swordsman only grunted in return but nodded.

Chrom stepped forward with a smile while sheathing his sword, everyone else doing the same with their weapons. "You saved my sister's life and I can't begin to thank you enough for that. My name is Chrom. Might I ask yours?"

The masked swordsman stood there for a moment, "You may call me Marth."

Chrome cocked an eyebrow at that, "Marth? After the heroic king of old? You certainly fight like a hero. Where did you learn your way with a sword?"

Marth shook his head and turned away "I'm not here to talk about me. This world teeters on the brink of a horrible calamity. What you saw tonight was but a prelude. You have been warned," he finished and walked away, leaving everyone in confusion.

"Huh? What's teetering where now? Hey, wait!" Lissa along with everyone watched as he left, confused as to what he meant.

Robin crossed her arms over her bust, an unimpressed look on her face. "Cheery fellow that one. Not much of a conversationalist, is he?"

Frederick shook his head, "It appears his skills lie elsewhere. I wager we'll hear his name again... But for now, I'm more concerned about the capital. We should make haste."

Chrom nodded the same, "You're right Frederick, Shepherds move out!"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Yay first one and a half chapter of Awakening completed. Next up is Ylisstol and Regna Ferox, unsure if I'll be having them meet Blanc next chapter or the one after.**

 **Read and review please, they assist me in writing better.**


	4. Chapter 4: Ylisstol and the Shepherds

**Two-Sided Awakening**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem nor anything belonging to them, that right belongs to Nintendo Systems. The only thing I own are my own original character/s and ideas I create for the story.**

 **Reviews:**

 **ThePotatoeGamer: The reason for Chapter 1 and 2 is purposefully for backstory for Blanc, the prologue if you will. Of course, that's not to say he doesn't change anything, because he has, and will change a lot of things. The characterization changes that you're thinking about for Robin wouldn't happened right off the bat, yes there'd be some _very minor changes_ , but ultimately nothing mind-blowingly changed. As she continues through the story, experiences and feelings she has will also shape her decisions, the most noticeable changes to her character would happen closer to Regna Ferox, and definitely, once she's met Blanc.**

 **Now the reason why the story is basically going through the motions is that right now there's no source of change or variation. Everything in Southtown basically follows the exact same storyline because there's nothing new. Most other SI starts where the SI wake up near Southtown yadda yadda SI helps out and joins the Shepherds right off the bat and whatnot. Not in this case. Blanc is in Regna Ferox four years prior to the events of canon and he'll have been doing his own thing, nowhere near Robin and co, so there's no change that's brought to the Shepherds, as such nearly everything with the Shepherds stays true to canon. Of course, all that'll go to shit once they hit Rega Ferox so don't worry about that. You'll just have to of course stick with the bland-ish chapter one more time before they'll finally meet Blanc and shit gets changed.**

 **Author's Note: Please read and review so I know what I should work on. Well, here we are with the fourth chapter of 'Two-Sided Awakening'.**

* * *

(Ylisstol – 3rd Person POV)

Ylisstol, the shining pride and crown jewel of Ylisse. A pristine city filled with nobles and commoners alike, a bustling center of trade and commerce, a general city vibrant with joy and cheer. Atop a hill overlooking the Halidom was a white-walled castle, multiple roads, and streets leading down to the city below. This was the home of the Exalt, the castle of Ylisse.

Far below, back in the city four of six returning Shepherds could be found walking through its streets, the other two having split off earlier in the day to go elsewhere.

"So this is Ylisstol, capital of Ylisse…" Robin breathed out in amazement, watching everything around her in fascination, the vendors selling food, people haggling for goods and items, even the guards stationed around the city fascinated her. She watched as the street emptied and filled as people moved around doing their daily tasks, running errands and buying their groceries for the week. "I've never seen so many people!" she exclaimed in enchantment as she walked with Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick.

She also didn't seem to notice how there was a slight berth of space around the company, people slightly edging away out of respect and reverence for their group.

"It appears that Ylisstol was spared the chaos we encountered within the forest, thank the gods for mercy," Frederick let out a sigh of relief as he watched people go to their day-to-day tasks. "I see no evidence of the great quake influencing the city… it must've been limited to the forest in the south then." he speculated.

Lissa cheered to his side, her hair bouncing, "Well, that's a relief!"

Suddenly ahead of them citizens of Ylisstol began to converge, grouping and clamoring to look as something passed by them.

Robin looked around as villagers rushed past them, some beginning to cheer and other waving. "What's happening? What's going on?"

Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick seemed at complete ease thought, this led her to believe this may have been a regular occurrence. Deciding to find out herself, Robin scaled a nearby stall to get a better look, Chrom and Lissa laughing as she struggled. As she got up, she noticed a blonde-haired woman walking in the middle of the street surrounded by Pegasus knights.

"Look!" an elderly citizen cheered, "The Exalt has come to see us!"

Robin took a good look at her. The Exalt was a woman with a lithe and svelte figure covered by a white and green robe, drill-like locks curling on each side of her head and trailing down her front, a golden metallic halo framing behind her. There were two highly distinctive traits she noticed, however, the first being the mark on her forehead, the same one that was on Chrom's shoulder.

The other thing Robin noticed was the kind aura that seemed to bathe the Exalt like a warm blanket. It was an intoxicating sight to behold Robin found out as the Exalt waved and greeted the denizens of Ylisstol. With a shake of her head, she clambered back down the stall and reunited with the others.

As she reunited with the others she decided to make small-talk as the villagers dispersed, the Exalt having left to return to Castle Ylisse, "The Exalt is your ruler, yes?"

Frederick nodded, "Indeed, she is a wise and benevolent leader, one we hope will continue to lead us, her name is Lady Emmeryn."

Robin nodded in understanding, but the inherent danger to such an important national figure bothering her, "Is it truly safe for her, however, to be walking amidst commoners and the such like this?"

"The Exalt is a symbol of peace for the citizens – Ylisse's most prized treasure, one we have and shall continue to safe keep," Frederick explained calmly. "Long ago, at the dawn of our age the Fell Dragon tried to destroy the world, but the First Exalt joined forces with Naga and laid the beast low, sealing it away. Exalt Emmeryn is a reminder to the people of the peace we've fought for since then."

Robin's attention was then brought to Chrom as he picked up where Frederick left off. "With Plegia at our borders, our people need her presence more than ever, a pillar of support for them to rely on. She's a calming presence when some would otherwise call for war."

She couldn't help but agree, the intoxicating feeling of gentle warmth that stemmed from the Exalt was like a mother's touch. "The Ylissean people truly are lucky to have someone as such as her," she murmured, she couldn't help but feel slightly wanting for a presence like that once more.

"She's also the best sister anyone could ask for!"

Robin smirked, she could only imagine, "Yes I imagine she would be-"

The birds above chirped as they flew high in the sky, the warming sun a comforting presence for the denizens of Ylisse.

"…Wait, what?"

She turned back pointing at Lissa incredulously, the delicate girl's words finally having caught up to her, "She's your- but wouldn't that make you and Chrom like…?!" she sputtered slowly becoming incoherent.

Frederick seemed like he'd caught quite the canary, "The prince and princess of the realm? Then yes, they are indeed."

Robin's brain kicked back into high-gear, at least partially. "B-But you said you were all 'Shepherds'! With sheep and the such!" she stammered.

"We didn't really say it was actual sheep per se… more the metaphorical kind, which we do have QUITE a lot of, mind you." Chrom laughed as she continued to sputter before pausing in her movements.

She facepalmed, rubbing her face in both embarrassment and annoyance. "Wonderful… I've succeeded in having the prince and princess of the realm pick me up like a stray… not to mention the fact the first thing I proceeded to do was make a joke about his hand in marriage… just great…" she murmured, her face slowly burning red as she crouched on the ground, her coat covering her body.

"Hehehehe/HAHAHA!" Lissa and Chrom couldn't help but laugh as their newly dubbed tactician tried to curl up into a little black and gold ball in the middle of the road, mumbling as she tried to hide her reddening face.

"It's fine, it's fine Robin, truly," Chrom tried to assuage her embarrassment, Lissa doing nothing to help as she continued to giggle, which sent Chrom into another fit of snickers which in turn caused Robin to peek out from her coat in the middle of the road, her burning face glaring petulantly at them like a kitten.

"It's okay Robin if we wanted to be pampered like a spoilt noble we would've stayed in the castle," Lissa pointed out as she finished giggling.

Robin only continued to glare at them from her curled-up spot beneath her hood, her attention drifting off to Frederick who was also smirking. "That's the reason why you're so tolerating of their teasing and jokes, isn't it?" she questioned.

"Indeed," Frederick only smiled further, finally finding it amusing that it was someone else being embarrassed for a change other than him "Oh such are the sacrifices I must make for the good of our realm."

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up while you can," Robin retreated back into her cloak, peeking back out as Chrom spoke.

"Well, it looks like Emm is returning to the palace." Chrom brought up, "Would you like to meet her?"

Robin's response was to stand up and walk in the direction of the castle, this was made increasingly difficult with how her hood and white locks were covering her vision causing her to bump into people and stalls alike.

Lissa rolled her eyes with a grin and rushed forward, grasping Robin's hood and pulling it down before dragging the white-haired tactician in the direction of the castle, Chrom and Frederick following close behind.

* * *

The Exalt, Emmeryn, was on her throne within the castle listening to the reports of her bodyguard, Phila, before the throne room door burst open revealing her brother and sister, and their companion and bodyguard, Frederick.

Along with an extra individual, Emmeryn noted, a woman with long white hair garbed in almost Plegian colors.

"Chrom! Lissa! Welcome home," she greeted her siblings with a warm hug. "Good day to you as well, Frederick. How fared you all on your journey?" she greeted their bodyguard who smiled lightly in return.

Chrom and Lissa broke off the hug, Chrom taking the time to report in, "Well, we shouldn't be having any bandit problems for a while."

A gentle smile broke upon Emmelyn's face, "That's wonderful news. What of our people, however?"

Chrom puffed out his chest, "Safe as they can be, Emm." He deflated, however, as he continued, "We'll still need to look after our borders. The brigands crossed over from Plegia."

Phila, Commander of the Pegasus Knights, flinched at that, "Forgive me, milord. My Pegasus knights should have intercepted them at the border."

"No, Phila," Chrom shook his head understandingly, "Your duty was here at my sister's side, protecting the Exalt.

"And besides, we had plenty of help!" Lissa piped up cheerily, grabbing the attention of both Emmeryn and Phila.

Emmeryn motioned to Robin, "I must presume that you speak of your new companion here?"

"This is Robin," Chrom nodded and introduced her, "We found her on the road to Southtown unconscious, after waking she assisted us in ridding the town of brigands with her skill and knack for tactics. I've decided to make her a Shepherd."

Emmeryn's eyes widened marginally as she took in the white-haired woman in a warm light, "It seems as though Ylisse owes you a debt of gratitude, Robin."

"Not at all, milady!" Robin frantically waved her hands in front of herself, immensely discomforted by the thanks being received by such a renowned figure.

"Forgive me, your Grace, but I must speak," Frederick stepped forward, asking for permission.

Emmeryn inclined her head, a sign of allowance.

"Robin, claims to have lost her memory, however, it is just that: a claim," Frederick explained. "As reluctant as I am to admit it, Robin has been quite the assistance to our group and has acted in honest nature, but I can't in good conscience rule out the possibility she may be a brigand herself, or even a Plegian spy," he stated before stepped backward in line with a bow.

"Frederick!" Chrom yelled aghast.

"If it is as Frederick says…" Emmeryn began, pausing as she mulled over her words, "You've still decided to allow her into the castle, in addition to the throne room, Chrom. Does this woman truly have your trust?"

"Yes," Chrom nodded as they locked eyes. "Robin risked her life for the sake of our people and continued to jeopardize hers for our own. I believe she is someone we can trust."

Emmeryn smiled at Robin, the woman in question blushing slightly at the sight, "Well then, Robin… It seems you've earned Chrom's faith, and as such you have my own as well."

The white haired bowed her slightly, "Milady, you have my thanks."

Emmeryn moved back to Frederick who stood slightly straighter. "Thank you, Frederick, for your honesty and council, you prove time again that my faith in you to protect the interest of Chrom and Lissa is warranted. They truly are blessed to have such a tireless guardian."

"I do hope they remember to mention that from time to time." The last part being directed entirely to the two in question, both smiling sheepishly.

Frederick smiled, warmed by the words of the Exalt. "They occasionally express something akin to gratitude, Your Grace," he defended them sincerely.

Emmeryn smiled at that.

Frederick's smile disappeared as he began to address the situation at hand. "Phila," he began, addressing the Pegasus Knight Commander, "I assume you've heard about the deathly abominations our group came up against, yes?"

The commander nodded, her red eyes narrowing. "Yes, milord. They've been sighted all across the Ylisse, predominantly within the non-populated areas thankfully but I believe that won't last for long."

"Chrom, we're about to hold council. I was hoping you could join us." Emmeryn interrupted Phila, addressing Chrom not with a question but a statement.

"Of course," he acquiesced.

"Aaaand I think that's our cue, Robin!" Lissa turned around and hopped over to Robin, grabbing the sleeve of her coat. "C'mon, there's a place I want to show you," the young girl dragged Robin away with a skip in her step, a deceptively large amount of strength for such a diminutive figure.

Robin was dragged out of the throne room in astonishment, creating a hilarious sight as a tiny girl in yellow bodily manhandled her, the teeny girl in question skipping away while dragging a busty female almost a head taller than herself in hand.

* * *

Robin and Lissa walked out of the castle, Lissa having finally allowed Robin to walk on her own two feet.

They followed a road leading to a large barrack, noises audible coming from inside. An axe came flying from one of the windows on the second floor, shattering it and landing blade first into the ground.

"That was most likely Vaike, one of our Shepherds," Lissa supplied as she noticed Robin's perturbed expression.

There was a slightly louder crash as a tan muscled shirtless blonde man came flying out of the same window and landing next to the buried axe. Sully became visible from the broken window. "You're paying for that one, ya idiot!" Sully yelled at the fallen man, who was only now recovering.

"The Vaike won't be paying squat! That was cheap and you know it!" the man groaned/yelled out somehow with his face buried in the dirt.

"Okay, it definitely was him…" Lissa muttered as she walked up to the fallen man and began healing him.

"Huh?" the man grunted in surprise as he became awash in healing magic. "Oh heya squirt, when did you get back?"

"All of three seconds ago," Lissa rolled her eyes as she finished healing him. "What'd you do this time Vaike?"

"Tried having an arm-wrestle with Sully, things happened," he spoke as he got up and plucked the axe out of the ground and hefted it over his shoulder. "She got a chair and smashed my axe out of my hand then smashed me through tha window. Welp squirt, gotta go now and- OW!"

Lissa bashed over the head with her staff preventing him from charging back into the barracks arms swinging. "No weapons Vaike, you know how Maribelle is."

Vaike groaned and headed back in, making sure to lower his axe as he entered.

…

"What just happened?" Robin questioned, wondering what just occurred in the span of the seconds that passed by.

"This is normal among the Shepherds," Lissa beamed, "C'mon I'll show you around!" she said before entering the barracks, Robin following suit.

"Welp here we are! The Shepherds' garrison," Lissa presented with a wave of her hands, Robin looking around noticed an assortment of people turning their heads to look at the duo. "Go on, make yourself at home"

Robin took three steps forward before a blonde-haired woman with drill curls swept Lissa off her feet in a fierce hug. "Lissa, my treasure! Are you all right? I've been on pins and needles!"

"Oh, hey, Maribelle!"

"'Oh hey' yourself!" Maribelle shot back at the tallow clad princess, placing her back on her feet, "I've sprouted 14 grey hairs fretting and worrying over you!"

"Aww, you worry too much Mari, I can handle a battle or two!" Lissa cooed. "Although I could do without the bugs and the bear barbecue…"

"Hey again, squirt!" Vaike approached the two, his axe missing Robin noticed, "Where's Chrom? I bet he had a rough time there without the ol' teach and his trusty axe."

"Oh, so you're "Teach" now, Vaike, is that it?" Lissa chortled, "And here I was going around thinking people were born lacking wits. It can be taught?"

Vaike took it in stride with a laugh of his own, "Ha! Never doubt the Vaike!"

Maribelle sniffed at him, "You and that axe of yours got sent flying by a chair, I think they would've been quite fine without your assistance."

"Hey! I would've been a great help!" Vaike retorted before stopping. "Wait... squirt was that an insult earlier?"

Lissa doubled over cackling.

A brown-haired woman donned in Pegasus knight armor, a beautiful silver butterfly broach holding her hair together, approached them. "Beg pardon, but when might we be seeing the captain?"

"Poor Sumia," Maribelle sighed, withdrawing a closed parasol, "She's simply been beside herself with concern. Her eyes have been scanning the horizon all day during training, she may have earned fewer bruises fighting blindfolded."

"Aw, Sumia, that's so sweet of you to worry about Chrom." Lissa cooed over the woman, Robin similarly couldn't help herself but find how adorable it was that the girl fretted over Chrom.

"Worry, well I-" Sumia began to sputter, her face flush with a dusting of red, "H-He's our captain and our p-prince, of course I'd worry!"

It was amusing to watch the girl stumble and stutter over her words, her infatuation with the blue-haired prince visible for anyone to see, even a newcomer. Speaking of newcomers, Vaike took notice of Robin who was in a corner, blending in quite well due to her cloak as she watched the interactions occur.

"So… who's the stranger?"

"No one's stranger than you Vaike…" Lissa muttered as she gave a pointed look to the blonde shirtless man, hands in her hip as she pouted. "However, allow me to introduce Robin!" she grabbed the tactician and dragged her into the light, "She just joined the Shepherds yesterday, Chrom made her our new tactician. You should see all the trick she's got up her sleeve!"

Vaike decided to take that as a challenge, "Oh yeah? Can she do this?"

Vaike took in a deep couple breathes of air and held his breathe. Then... he _belched_.

 _ **BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURP**_

Everyone stared on in astonishment as Vaike.

"No… I don't think I can…" Robin spoke up as Vaike rubbed his stomach, a grimace on his face, "That was scientifically fascinating as it was extremely disgusting… how on earth did you do it for that long? That would've been what, minute or so?"

A bespectacled woman looked up and reported before returning to her book. "One minute and fourteen seconds."

Vaike didn't say anything as his face turned green and ran outside the barracks. Loud noises of vomiting could be heard along with something wet hitting the ground.

"Ugh, that was abhorrent Vaike!" Maribelle sniffed in disgust, "Must you baseborn oafs pollute not only our minds but our air with your buffoonery!?" she stormed off with a huff leaving the remaining Shepherds within the room in silence, at least except for the sound of Vaike continuing to vomit his meal.

"Well…" Sumia spoke up breaking the silence, "At least she didn't seem to say anything bad about you, Robin. Usually, she'd say something bad about most people she meets. I'd say you're off to a pretty good start with her!"

Robin looked at her, confusion written all across her face, "Thanks… I guess?"

Lissa hopped up to the both of them with a smile, standing on the tips of her toes and patting Robin on the shoulder. "What she means to say is that Mari warms up _very_ slowly…" Lissa stopped and put a finger to her lips in thought, "Actually... I think it's more like she burns up really quickly and cools down slowly…"

Everyone's head swung as the door to the shepherd's garrison opened, Chrom walking through the door. "What happened to the upstairs window?" he asked with a confused look as a finger pointed to the floor above.

"Vaike tried to fight Sully. He got hit through the window by a chair…" a youthful man in green armor spoke up from the same table as the reading woman from earlier, pausing from his time happily snacking away at some apple danishes.

"…sure," Chrom decided to just accept it and move on.

A sudden shuffle of movement could be heard from Sumia as she made to meet with Chrom, "Ah! Captain! You've returned! I was- I mean, we were so-" she began stumbling over her words as she shuffled over to him.

 _ **CRASH!**_

Amazingly she managed to trip over seemingly nothing, sending her hurtling to the floor with a loud crash. Robin couldn't stop the wince that overcame her, the others in the room looking as if this was a regular and common occurrence. _'That must've hurt…'_ Robin grimaced looking over Sumia's face-down form.

"Sumia!" Chrom rushed to her side, helping her up, "Are you all right? Is it those boots of yours again?" he fretted and checked her for any injuries, failing to take notice of her atomic cherry-red face, steam almost visibly rising.

"N-no! I mean, yes!" she stuttered as Chrom held her close, helping her stand up while holding her, "I mean… _*sigh*"_

Chrom let her go once she was on her feet, Sumia visibly reluctant to move away but nonetheless doing so.

 _"Seeeee?"_ Lissa whispered to Robin suddenly, _"They're adorable together!"_

Robin stayed silent for a moment trying to get her head around what Lissa was implying before it suddenly hit her, _"How long do you think it'll take for Chrom to notice?"_ she whispered back.

 _"My brother's an idiot, she'll probably have to slap him in the face or something to get him to notice…"_

It made sense to Robin, he did seem like the dense type when it came to women... or woman in this case.

Chrom grabbed all the Shepherds attention, some looking from the tables, some coming down from upstairs (some such as Virion, Maribelle, and a young boy with a conical hat on his head looked down from the banister), or in Vaike's case, coming back inside after his vomiting session.

"All right listen up, everyone!" Chrom called out, once he'd ensured everyone within the garrison could hear him, "Tomorrow morning, we'll be marching to Regna Ferox."

"Regna Ferox?" Robin questioned, drawing some attention to herself.

"A unified kingdom to the north of Ylisse," Sumia supplied, her face regaining its natural skin-tone, "They're supposedly inhabited by barbarians, but for the last few years, they've been silent. A lot of people are unsure of what's been going on with them."

"Warriors are what they are, and we'll need their strength to quell the new menace that's been plaguing us since yesterday," Chrom corrected, "Typically, the Exalt would be the one requesting such aid in person. But given recent events… well, the citizens might worry should the Exalt suddenly leave the Capital."

"So…" Chrom drew out, people leaned forward in interest, "The task has been passed to us. Now, this mission is strictly voluntary. So, if, for any-"

"I volunteer!" a little yellow fairy jumped up and down on the spot, her hand raised.

Vaike barrelled to Chrom, "Me too! You'll be needin' ol' Teach for such a delicate mission!" then he promptly gagged as the smell of his own breath hit him. "Maybe after I brush my teeth though…"

Robin jumped as a disembodied voice spoke up behind her, "I'll go as well…" only to turn around and see nothing except an empty suit of armor, "What? I've been here the whole time."

"What in the hells was that!" Robin squealed, jumping backward.

"What was what, Robin?" Lissa asked beside her curiously, seeing nothing out of place.

"I could've sworn I heard someone talk right behind me…" Robin looked around in suspicion, "I-I'm sorry… I must be hearing things, I'm getting tired."

Chrom merely nodded in acceptance, returning to the group.

Sumia shyly raised her hand, her whole demeanor meek, "I… I, um…"

"Yes, Sumia?" Chrom questioned, a gentle smile spread across his lips.

"It's just that…" she started off hesitantly, "I'm not sure I'm quite ready for a proper mission just yet. I'd probably just get in the way."

"Nonsense," Chrom eased her, "If worse comes to worse, you can stay behind the main group, and if a battle is met, just watch and learn okay? It's your choice of course, but some lessons can only be learned on the battlefield," he reasoned with her, slowly winning her over.

"W-well, if you think that's wise, Captain…" Sumia muttered, still slightly unsure.

"Just stay by my side and you'll be fine," he assured her.

Sumia's whole stance changed, almost radiating pure unadulterated joy at those words.

Robin and Lissa both simultaneously fake-gagged at the two. _"I don't know whether to cheer them on or gag by how cute they are,"_ Robin whispered, Lissa, screwed her eyes shut but nodding in agreement.

"Of course! I mean- Yes sir, I'll do just that!" Sumia spoke, this time much more confident and peppy at the mere thought of being by his side.

"Okay, everyone!" Chrom yelled out to everyone else, "Go get something to eat, and get some rest! We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow!"

All of the Shepherds dispersed, most going their separate ways.

A tap on Robin's shoulder caused her to turn around, coming face to face with two blinding surfaces of white. "I'll be escorting you to your accommodations," the two surfaces shifting revealing themselves to only be a pair of glasses perched upon a familiar woman's nose, the light having reflected of them at an odd angle, "Will you be necessitating any items perchance as we make our way?"

"Uh…" Robin uttered unsurely.

"Oh, my apologies, I'm Miriel, one of the Shepherds two mages at the moment," the glasses-wearing woman introduced herself. She was a svelte woman of average height, curves visible beneath her robes, and a conical hat similar to the boy from earlier atop her asymmetrical brown hair.

"Robin, I'm the new tactician," she introduced herself to the woman with an extension of her hand, now a better time she decided than any to begging to get to know the rest of the Shepherds. "Would you happen to have like a logbook or diary of all the Shepherds? Just so I know what I'll be working with?"

Miriel to her hand with a shake. "A pleasure, follow me. We have a logbook in the storeroom, an old tome that chronicles all personages that join the Shepherds."

She began leading Robin through the garrison, going up the stairs and taking a few turns before stopping in front of a door to unlock it before entering. "It must be approximately here somewhere…" Miriel muttered before getting to work, searching for the tome, "Will you be requiring any supplementary books and the likes in addition?"

"Um…" Robin gave it some thought, wondering what else she'd be needing, "Do you have maps, books and strategy, geography, and history?"

Miriel stopped before turning to look over her shoulder in interest. "That's somewhat the quantity of volumes just for reading. Might I ask why you'll be necessitating them?"

"Making strategies, understanding the terrain and landscape we may be fighting on, understanding the history of each nation just in case," Robin shrugged as Miriel returned to rummaging through the storeroom.

"You're quite thorough, I must say you'll be quite the asset to the Shepherds," she said before standing up and turning around, a leather-bound book in her grasp, "Here's the logbook. There's a library at the back of the garrison, and one in my room should you be needing it."

Robin smiled gratefully, "Thank you Miriel, truly."

Miriel waved her off, "Think nothing of it, it's quite wonderful to have someone else to talk to about things, maybe one day we'll be able to discuss in-depth about science."

Robin smiled, "I'd like that."

"Yes, but for now let's show you to your quarters," Miriel dusted her robes of dirt and walked past Robin, out of the storeroom and down a sort hallway.

After a couple of seconds, they stopped at a door, Miriel opening it to reveal an empty bedroom with but a double bed, a desk, a mirror, and a wardrobe.

Robin turned back to her questioningly, "Are you sure this is okay?" she motioned to the double bed.

Miriel shook her head as she moved forward and placed the logbook down on the desk, "Maribelle donated the building to the Shepherds, double beds are standard issue here."

Robin stood there stunned.

"Well dinner shall be in an hour, so be sure to attend. The library is down the hallway to the right, and my room is three hallways down," Miriel instructed as she moved past Robin but slingered just out the doorway, "Welcome to the Shepherds."

"Thank you," Robin acknowledged.

With that, Miriel left leaving Robin to her own devices.

* * *

Robin got her bag, the one she'd used to carry the tent and sleeping bag, along with some spare clothes she was allowed to take from the royal castle.

Unpacking it she hung her clothes in the wardrobe and sat on her new bed, relishing in the feeling of the plush texture.

It would be another hour before she went down to have dinner with the Shepherds, and another four hours of reading the status of each shepherd from the logbook, books on the history and geography of Ylisse, Regna Ferox, and Plegia and maps from both the Shepherds and Miriel's library, devising plans and strategies for the following day before she readied herself to turn in for the night.

Robin could say as she laid in bed that everything was truly a whirlwind of emotions for her.

' _Only one day since I woke up in that field, and so much has happened,"_ Robin mulled over. _'The earth itself began spewing magma, monsters fell from a glowing portal in the sky, someone else falls from the sky, Chrom and Lissa turn out to be royalty,'_ she blushed at that one, the memory from but hours ago fresh in her mind as she buried her face into her new pillow.

' _Gods I can't believe I embarrassed myself like that,'_ she thought. _'Then there's meeting the Shepherds… everyone's so nice here… eccentric maybe, but nice…'_

' _I think I'll like it here…'_

The memory of Chrom and Sumia clutching each other, Chrom worrying over her as she blushed a crimson red, sent a jolt of laughter through her. For some reason just watching the two of them just made her giggle, they were just so adorable together.

' _Was I always like this? Laughing at such insignificant but funny things? Or was I someone different?'_

Robin turned over and closed her eyes.

' _It doesn't matter, I'm here now.'_

* * *

Chrom stood outside the gate of Ylisstol on the Northroad, some of the Shepherds with him along with a few caravans of necessities, food, water, weapons, armor, toolkits, staves, potions to name a few.

"Hey, Chrom?" Robin walked up to Chrom who was in the middle of overseeing that all the inventory of the group was with them.

"Hmm? You need something Robin?" he asked, getting off his knees back onto his feet.

Robin handed over a stack of parchment to him, neat maps and instructions splayed upon them. "Here's a couple of strategies in case we need to fight," Robin explained, slight bags under her eyes from reading and coordinating till late in the night, "This should account for some variables… there's still a fair amount missing, however,"

Chrom began skimming through the papers, the papers ruffling as he shuffled through them, eyes bugging out in amazement as he continued to skim through them. "Robin!" he exclaimed in shock, "There are over twenty different strategies! What do you mean there's a fair amount missing!?"

"Well… I didn't have enough time last night to take into account the weather patterns of Regna Ferox which now that I think about it, should have been one of the first things I did. I also don't have much information on Feroxians as a whole nor their battle tactics, and the beasts from two days ago don't seem to utilize any tactics or strategy, hence making them quite difficult to coordinate against," Robin shrugged.

"Robin, t-that's... It's- wait...?" Chrom stopped, "Did you say you did this all last night?"

"Huh?" Robin's face became confused, "Of course I did it last night, I spent most of the night studying the basic geography of each nation along with their political landscape. I didn't have enough time to get into the history of each though."

Chrom looked her over in concern, "Robin, are you okay? You must've been up till the sun rose!"

"Uh… not really? I mean I was definitely asleep before midnight." Robin corrected her commander.

"Oh…" he lingered lamely, "Just don't overdo it, okay?"

"Sure, no worries," she shrugged off his concern. "Also, where's Miriel, Maribelle, and the little kid from yesterday? The one with the pointy hat?"

Chrom gave her a strange look at the description of the last person. "Well Miriel said she'll be joining us later on, said she had a couple of experiments to finish before she'd join us. Maribelle as the daughter of the Duke of Themis had to return due to political reasons," he shook his head at that. "And the one you're thinking of is Ricken, I decided it'd be better off for him to stay at the garrison for now."

Robin glanced at him in perplexity, "You left a Shepherd back at the garrison? What for? He'd be a useful asset with us no matter how he may be."

Chrom shook his head, "I don't want anyone as young as him fighting just yet… I want him to live a little before he has his first encounter with an enemy."

"So, you left him alone in an empty garrison where everyone he knows has gone out on a mission where they may or may not came back from for a multitude of reasons?" she pointed out causing him to wince.

"Look, I didn't think about it like that okay?" Chrom waved his hands placatingly, a tinge of regret in his voice. "I just didn't want him getting hurt…"

Robin gave Chrom a good long look. After a while, she averted her eyes, "Just understand how other people think okay? You're our commander, whatever you say and do affect us greatly… some more than others…"

"I understand Robin," Chrom inclined his head in thanks, "Thank you for your council."

Robin nodded back as he made to move to the Shepherds.

"Okay, is everyone ready? We're going to be gone a while, so get everything you need out of the way!" he shouted.

No one made any movement

As the Shepherds began to leave Ylisstol for Regna Ferox, a familiar voice called out from behind the gate.

"W-Wait for me everyone!" a man atop a horse galloped up to the group, the same man that had been consuming apple danishes the day prior, Robin noted with a glance. Viridian green armor, much like Sully's crimson red, protecting his body with a sword on his hip and a shield on his back.

"Huh?" Chrom sputtered slightly taking in the man, "Stahl?"

"Why was I the only one that didn't get the notice we were leaving so early?" The man in question scratched the back of his head in confusion, a naturally gentle smile across his face even as he seemed peeved, "I thought we were leaving after breakfast."

"Huh? Vaike was supposed to tell you when we were leaving…" Lissa trailed off and turned around, glaring at the blonde muscled axe-wielder. "Vaike! You were supposed to let him know when we were leaving!"

Vaike took a few steps back from the blonde spitfire, his head still hurting from the staff blow the day before, wary of being struck once more by the healing implement. "Teach never forgets! I just don't remember at times, is all..."

"Dude, that's the same thing," Sully pointed out from her place against the side of one of the caravans.

Vaike hefted his axe menacingly at the redhead who merely smiled knowingly. Suddenly a wooden blur lashed out and struck Vaike on his head.

"Ow!"

"No pointing your weapons at others!" Lissa reprimanded him, Sully and Robin bursting out in laughter as Vaike cowered from the blonde menace.

"But you just hit me!" Vaike rubbed his head while pointing out in pain.

"Yeah with my healing staff, it's not a weapon," Lissa stuck her tongue at him.

"Grr," Vaike growled in response, unable to make a retort.

"If you're quite done, could we please get back on track? We have a formidable journey ahead of us," Frederick trotted forward, quelling the argument occurring between the two blondes.

"Thank you, Frederick," Chrom acknowledged his friends' assistance, "As he said we still have a long day ahead of us, it would be remiss of us to dally any further."

With that everyone began to march forward.

Robin watched on as everyone walked forward, most of the group splitting up into pairs or trios, talking as they journeyed, and moved to their newest ally, well new for her at least.

"Hello there, I'm Robin," she greeted the viridian armored knight.

"Stahl, we were introduced in the garrison yesterday," he extended a hand which she shook before letting go, a second later a stomach grumbling could be heard quite audibly.

Robin looked up at the blushing knight who was pulling at the collar of his armor in embarrassment, "You forget to have breakfast or something?"

The blush crept down his neck as he nodded, "I was in such a hurry I had to miss breakfast! There were muffins, and cakes, and…" he trailed off as a baked good, a Danish, was thrust under his nose.

Looking at the arm that proffered the treat revealed itself to be Sully, whom sometime when the two began to talk, moved to trot beside Stahl her horse moving in sync with Stahl's. "You're not gonna be doing anyone any good on an empty stomach," she said simply before moving forward.

"Thank you!" He called out after her retreating form, beginning to happily munch away on his breakfast replacement. Robin looked at the two, switching from staring at Stahl's happy and smiling face as he ate and Sully's form who'd neared the front of the caravans.

"Does she always do that for you?" She asked the man beside her as he finished eating.

Stahl nodded with a grin, patting his stomach in content, "She always seems to know whenever I forget to eat and always has something to give me. It's actually slightly strange cause most of what she gives are freshly baked goods, they're always warm as well."

Robin just gave the both of them a strange look and a shrug before taking out a book from the night before to read.

* * *

"Risen!" a voice from the front of the group called out, sending the caravans to a halt while Robin hurried forward.

"Gods, have the Risen already spread this far?" Chrom grimaces as he looked at the roaming band of abominations, some on two sides of a river, a bridge between two forts being the only way to pass the river safely. Forts being currently occupied by smaller bands of Risen.

"Risen?" Robin asked as she caught up, all the Shepherds except for Sumia who opted to stay with the Caravans for now having regrouped at the head of everyone.

"We needed a name to brand the creatures that threatened our land, as such the council dubbed them 'Risen'," Frederick supplied.

"I still reckon they would've been better off named "Fallen", they came from the sky after all," Chrom muttered. "No matter. Everyone, remember what we're up against!" he rallied the Shepherds, "Remember the threat they pose to our home."

Vaike let out a boisterous laugh. "Mya ha! They'll remember Me once I drive my axe into their… Wait… My axe…" he said as he hefted his axe only to come up empty-handed, "Where's my axe?! I had it a second ago!"

Chrom glared at the man in irritation, "Vaike, this is no time for jokes…"

Vaike looked at him helplessly, "I'm serious! It's gone, but I JUST had it! It's got to be around her somewhere…"

"Keep to the rear then!" Chrom shouted as the Shepherds withdrew their weapons. Robin, you're our tactician, what's the plan!?"

Robin took center stage as she surveyed the landscape. "Sully, Stahl, you two are working together for this one. You'll be our forward party with Virion assisting you. Your part in this is to get rid of the Risen outside the forts," she began assigning everyone their parts.

"Vaike!" she got the man's attention with a shout as he was making his way to stay with Sumia, "How good are you with your fists?"

"Teach is pretty decent with his fists, not as good with an axe but still decent," the tan-skinned warrior replied.

"Right," Robin nodded in acceptance, "You'll be heading with them then, you're to stick with Virion and make sure none of them get near him as he takes them down from afar."

"Piece of cake for Teach!" he grinned as he ran forward, meeting Virion and the four took off.

"What about us?" Lissa piped up.

Robin smiled and pointed at four forts protecting theirs and the other side of the bridge. "We'll be taking out the forts, get in, hit hard and get out," she explained showing the little amount of Risen actually within them, "We need to gain control of the bridge, everyone remembers what we did back in the fort before?"

Understanding gleamed within their eyes, at least for the ones that had been with her at the time.

"We're going to be doing the same thing, draw them in using the bridge as a chokepoint," she explained, "Since we have allies, we'll be able to continue fighting since we won't be having anywhere to get boxed in."

"Seems like a sound strategy," Chrom agreed.

"Robin, a question," Frederick intervened, "Who shall be accompanying whom?"

Robin gave it some thought, "It'll be me and Lissa for now, and I'll get either Sully or Stahl to come with us, the four of them should be finished up by now rounding up the Risen outside of the fort."

"Sounds good," Chrom assented, "let's go!"

With a burst the four of them charged, swords and spears lashing out as arcs of lightning brushed past them, striking Risen in the chest, disintegrating the monsters into black dust that floated away in the wind.

"Sully!" Robin yelled out at the crimson clad knight who neatly bisected a Risen with a swipe and turned to the sprinting tactician as she sprinted past, "Need your help to clear out the forts!"

Sully broke off from the others with a nod, the rest of them making easy work of the lone Risen that popped up every now and then, already having killed scores of them. With nary a word she charged to Robin's side, Lissa hoping onto her horse directly behind where sully sat and sped off to the east-side fort whilst Chrom and Frederick took the west.

As Robin finally caught up with Sully and Lissa, a majority of the Risen had already been slain Sully moving around on her feet like a whirlwind of death, her horse safeguarding Lissa as it bit off the heads of Risen and kicked and crushed the ones that got too close. Lissa wasn't just sitting there, however, when either Sully or horse gained any severe injuries she'd heal them with a mere wave of her trusty staff.

With but a few more bolts of lightning and Sully continuing to decimate any enemy in her path the fort was cleaned out with quick work, emptied of enemies and filled with dust that soon dissipated in the warm winds.

Robin leaned over her knees, the full-sprint of chasing after Sully taking its toll along with subsequently charging straight into battle leaving her breathless. A couple of clops of hooves and the sound of footsteps came to her side, looking up revealing Sully with a couple of gashes on her armour but otherwise fine as a daisy. Lissa was just as fresh-faced atop Sully's horse.

"H-how are you not tired?!" Robin gasped out, her lungs burning with a need for oxygen, "You've been fighting for like half an hour straight!"

Sully smirked at her while hefting her spear to her shoulder and letting it rest. "It's called training, don't worry you'll be joining me and the others soon enough."

Robin just nodded as she took a deep breath and stood up, a slight soreness spreading around her body.

"We need to check in with others."

With a nod, the three exited the fort and reconvened with the others who were already waiting by the bridge, wounds spattered across the group as Lissa got to work healing them.

* * *

"You took a while…" Chrom commented as his sister began healing him with a wave, wounds visibly stitching back together at a slow pace.

"This one," Sully nodded at Robin who was still recuperating a bit more, "needed a breather for a minute."

"I see…" Frederick muttered, "I suppose she'll be needing training then!"

"Yup…/NO!" Sully replied while Chrom tried to dissuade his companion. Frederick merely gave a pointed questioning look in return before motioning to Robin who'd only finally finished getting her breathing under control.

Chrom looked at her and sagged, "Fine… but no 'Friday Specials' till she can take it!" he said with a point of his finger, his index pressing against Frederick's chestpiece.

With a smile, Frederick lowered his lord's finger. "Not to worry, she'll be in working order soon."

"That's what worries me with you," Chrom muttered in reply only to stop as footsteps came from behind them.

"Marvellous! It appears I've caught up." Miriel articulated behind the group, "Now that I'm here, would someone like to explain who's axe this is? I'd not alleged such dereliction would be permissible amongst the Shepherds, but it seems I'd been proven false. It still, however, would be negligent of me not return this armament to its possessor," she expressed whilst hefting a familiar looking axe up, "Along with perhaps a stern word or two of displeasure."

"Ah! My axe!" Vaike cheered as he rushed up, plucking the weapon out of her dainty hands.

Miriel exhaled in disappointment, "I truly deliberated what category of ignoramus would mislay their weapon. Now that I know, I mustn't have been astonished, there is only one axe wielder with Shepherds after all."

"Thanks, Miriel!" He grinned but faltered, "Err… for the axe anyway!"

"Perhaps…" Miriel growled, a glacial glare in return, "Maybe next time I'll use a spell to fasten it to your hands… permanently."

"Hey hey! Break it up!" Chrom interrupted the both of them, "We've got bigger problems at the moment."

Miriel fixed her glasses with a huff while Vaike gave a grin with a sweatdrop.

"Okay…" Chrom sighed before turning his attention to Robin who had been watching the byplay in interest, "What's our next move Robin? You tell us where to go and we'll follow."

Robin whipped around the pressure of his words palpable on her face, the exertion of having to constantly strategize for the Shepherds along with fighting making its weight known to her.

"Might I advise patience, Milord?" Frederick sensing her stress interposed himself to Chrom's request, "Robin is indeed a fine tactician and has so far been reliable in her choices, however, we've been working her mercilessly. Even the best of us need to rest before we break under the weight of expectations."

Chrom stood their stunned, his countenance slack jawed, before shaking his head in guilt. "O-of course, my apologies," he said to Robin who looked unsure, "I've been so astounded by your efficiency I forgot for a moment that you need your rest as well like the rest of us."

"No!" Robin shouted drawing him up in surprise, "I mean- It's true that it's taking its toll but I'd much rather I be tired than someone getting injuries, or worse…"

Chrom smiled at her words, "Nonetheless, I think it'd be best if when we fight that we make our actions at times? You direct us as need be?"

"I concur," Frederick nodded in assentation, "Tis' would be a wise course of action."

Robin looked at the two slightly troubled, the rest of the Shepherds listening in, "My only concern with that is how will everyone know to fight by their own choices?"

"We could use a simple command or something like such? Robin can call out when in need of assistance or if there's a change in?" Frederick proposed, "So long as Robin realises that at the time such a strategy doesn't necessarily guarantee victory and that she'll need to take charge at times, I don't see why acting by our own devices would be detrimental."

Robin nodded in acceptance. "Is everyone fine with that?" she called out.

Shouts of positive notes resounded around the bridge in approval.

" **GWAAAAAAAR!"**

A disembodied voice roared in the distance causing the Shepherds to look over past the bridge.

It was the Risen Chief. And all that Risen around the area on the opposing side of the bridge began moving, sifting and writhing like maggots.

"Well…" Robin started, "Shepherds, I guess we'll be giving that tactic a shot."

Each of the Shepherds readied themselves.

A wind blew, leaves like whispers on the wind.

"Let's finish this."

With that, the Shepherds charged, a battle cry on their lips as spears swords and axes swing, arrows flew on the wind while flames and thunders brightened the sky and awash over the Risen.

Everyone began splitting off slowly some going straight while other moved to the left or right, everyone opting to purse a target with the intent of destroying them till they were naught but dust.

It was a couple moments later when a majority of the Risen were already vanquished, dust on the wind that scattered and disappeared in seconds. Most killed one and moved onto the others. Chrom and Vaike charged the leader simultaneously, fully intent on finishing it off only for it to raise one hand and making a sweeping motion, sending them flying back.

"Vaike! Fredrick!" Lissa cried as she ran over to them, her staff awash in blue. "Are you all right!"

"Heh…" Vaike chuckled as he got up, Chrom doing the same as he was healed, "It'll take more than a tumble to take Teach down." Vaike hefted his axe while Chrom readied Falchion.

"Robin!" Chrom shouted gathering the attention of the white-haired woman who vaporised a Risen with a use of her Thunder tome. "Any ideas for the big guy?"

"Urk!" Robin grunted as she slashed with her sword at a Risen that got too close, "Full Charge! Heavy Armour on foot! Shields!" she shouted back as she got double-teamed by two more Risen, a sword blocking one of their slashes while another sliced her leg.

Chrom nodded, understanding what she was getting at. "Frederick! Need your help!"

"Milord?!" he shouted blocking a Risen with his shield before sending it flying with a shove.

"Charge the big guy! Try and get him off his feet!" Chrom shouted while pointing towards the Chief who merely stood there unmoving. Frederick nodded and galloped forward, his shield in front of him as he charged.

"Miriel! Virion!" Robin called out as she threw off the two Risen with her sword before disintegrating them with twin bolts of lightning. "Once Frederick takes it down, concentrate on the Chief!"

The two nodded and disengaged from their opponents, their spots being taken up by Vaike and Chrom who disengaged to take up their posts.

Frederick charged the Chief and with a heft of his shield sent it tumbling backwords, it's large body making it extremely difficult for it to get back up.

"Now!"

The skies were filled with volleys of arrows, flames, and bolts of lightning for a full two minutes before dying off. Once the dust cleared, it revealed the Risen still alive but barely, it body scorched and pierced, arrows pinning it to the ground.

Frederick got off his steed and approached it.

"Begone, foul creature," he muttered in contempt as he raised his shield and slammed it downwards on its head. Its skull squished down like a grape before disappearing into dust, it's brain matter and blood flaking away in the wind.

Just a few more seconds of fighting showed the Shepherds having taken care of all the Risen in the area.

"Finally, and good riddance!" Chrom commented as he sheathed Falchion. "But if they're appearing this far up the Northroad…"

"Then no path is safe. We'll need to stay wary," Fredrick nodded, his thoughts flying along the same path of his lord.

Chrom shook his head of any pervasive thoughts that would distract him. "Come," he motioned back to the caravans, "We'd best gather out supplies and carry on, who knows how much more Risen there will be if we linger."

The rest of the Shepherds nodded and sheathed their weapons, following their leader back to the wagons.

* * *

It was long after the battle had finished, the day falling into the evening as the Shepherds continued along the Northroad.

Chrom, Lissa, and Robin walking ahead of the group talking as they continued onwards.

Robin looked up to see a white quadruple-legged figure further down in the distance. "Well, what do we have here?"

Lissa noticed where she was looking and glee took over her face, "Is that what I think it is!?"

They continued further, the creature coming more visible as they neared.

It was a four-legged winged horse.

"It's a Pegasus, all right," Chrom exclaimed, soon noticing how it favoured three of its leg over another, "I think it's hurt. Let's just have a look here…"

He tried approaching it only for its eyes to widen visibly, and rear up frantically, it's forelegs swinging dangerously close to Chrom as he dodged backward.

"WHOA! Down, girl!" he tried placating it only for it to completely ignore him, continuing to flail its wings as it panicked, "Easy there!

"Captain!" a voice called from behind as it rushed over from the wagons. "One momen- Oof!"

A mighty thud collided with the ground, a figure sliding behind the trio, coming to a stop before Chrom's boots.

"Sumia?!" Chrom shouted in surprise and concern, squatting down to help the pink-armoured girl. "Are you all right?"

The butterfly-hairpinned girl knelled upright with the help of Chrom, shaking away the dizziness from the fall.

"…Is it those boots of yours again?" Chrom raised a hand to her face, looking into her eyes.

Robin and Lissa watched the two silently, Robin couldn't fathom the fact that it felt like this had happened before.

It definitely has.

"No! I mean, Yes! I mean…" Sumia stuttered as she was forced to stare into his deep blue eyes, a crimson blush aflame. She gave a sigh as she stood to her feet.

Chrom panicked as he noticed the Pegasus behind her, its nostrils flaring. "Sumia! Stay away, the best is crazed!"

Sumia looked at him in confusion before turning around, looking at the Pegasus. "It's okay, Captain, I can handle this..." she waved off his continuing concerns as she approached the winged equine.

"Shhh… Easy now girl," She whispered calmingly as he brought an armoured hand to the side of its muzzle, brushing away dirt that seemingly accumulated on its silver coat, "I won't hurt you…"

"Shh…" She murmured, the bucking of the Pegasus calmed as it's winged stilled and closed.

The three looked on in amazement.

"How on earth did she calm it so quickly?" Robin whispered in fascination.

"That's incredible, Sumia!" Lissa hopped beside her, becoming a little yellow blur.

Chrom stood there, watching as she stroked the Pegasus' mane lovingly. "I've never seen anything like it…"

Sumia blushed at that, "Oh, its… it's nothing, really." She gazed back at the now calm Pegasus, "I just have a way with animals, I guess."

Chrom shook his head, caught up in his staring of her. "I should say so!" he exclaimed, trying to get his head out of the gutter and distract his thoughts.

"You all go ahead," Sumia spoke as she knelt down inspecting the wound on the Pegasus' foreleg. "I'll dress her wounds and catch up as soon as we're able."

"Are you sure? We can make time around you," Chrom looked over her, a tinge of apprehension in his voice.

"Thank you, Captain but I can manage," Sumia merely shook her head and looked up at him. "Every moment is precious when all of Ylisse is in danger," she reminded him as she waggled a finger at him, his eyes following it's every movement as she did so.

"R-right then," he nodded, more to himself than anything, "Be safe Sumia!" he called.

"And you as well commander!" she shouted back.

…

"How long do you think it'll take Chrom to realise he's walking back to the caravans?" Lissa asked Robin, watching his retreating form.

"I'd say right about… now."

True to Robin's word, Chrom stopped in the middle of the road and swivelled back around, silently walking past them. Sumia giggled as he passed, a scarlet blaze of embarrassment coated his face as he passed the three, four including the Pegasus.

"Well…" Robin shrugged as she looked over at her blonde-haired tiny companion, turn back to watch her commander stomp away, "Guess we'd better follow, Regna Ferox awaits."

* * *

Far away, late into the evening, a figure in black stood in a snowy clearing, where one if its eyes should have been was a circular flat black surface.

 _ **cough cough**_

Suddenly the figure coughed.

"Okay…" a baritone voice left the mouth of the figure, an arm snaking its way into a pocket and withdrawing a piece of paper and pencil. "Not to self: Don't try using newly created spell circle engraved weaponry with no one around to assist you, explosions may occur."

The figure put away the sheet of paper in its pocket and walked forward, black marks being left behind in the figured footsteps.

The figure bent down and picked something off the ground, well where the ground used to be. Now a crater around five feet wide with blackened edges was all that was left.

In the figures' hands was the remains of some type of presumable weaponry with small sigils carved into.

"Well that was a failure," the figure whispered to itself before looking up at the white moon hanging above surrounded by a blanket of shining stars. "I should probably head back now…" the figure whispered once more before stowing away the remains of he held and trudged through the snow, taking away the pane of flat black covering one its eyes revealed it to be merely a dirtied monocle.

Black soot flaked away atop the figure slightly as it moved, revealing white soot-covered hair.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Yay! The fourth chapter is done! So now that we're past I think Chapter Three or Four I'm debating how I want the meeting between the Shepherds and Raimi to go. Blanc shall make a minor appearance but won't be making a full POV apearance till Chapter 6. I already have Chpater 5 ready so don't worry about that. Stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 5: Regna Ferox

**Two-Sided Awakening**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem nor anything belonging to them, that right belongs to Nintendo Systems. The only thing I own are my own original character/s and ideas I create for the story.**

 **Review Replies:**

 **Guest 1: Why wouldn't I write the last two chapters? If I didn't, how would anyone know if something changed or not? I'd be moving forward by four years but nothing said about Chrom, Robin or the Shepherds, it'd just be smack dab into the middle of Chapter 4 of the game without any backstory to the other characters. I try to not use the same dialogue and create slightly different events but events will run the majorly same till they meet Blanc with a few minute changes.**

 **Guest 2: Here's your update!**

 **Author's Note: Please read and review so I know what I should work on. Well here we are with the fifth chapter of 'Two-Sided Awakening'.**

 **.**

* * *

Robin marvelled at the endless expanse of white that was Regna Ferox. It was a beautifully pristine and blemished land, devoid of marring landscapes and disgusting sights. The falling snow and cool winds were like sweet kisses upon her porcelain skin, for Robin, everything here was truly a sight to behold.

"Brrr!" someone shivered beside her, shaking her from her admiration. "F-F-Frebberick! I'm f-f-freebing!" Lissa managed out between chattering teeth, the piercing bone-cold winds seeping deep into her body.

"Stand beside my horse, milady," Frederick advised her, unaffected by the cold for the most part due to the warm equine beneath him and the layer of clothes and armour he wore offering some amount of protection from the cold. She did so, the horse not doing all that much considering it was still freezing cold regardless of wind or not.

"Put these on or you'll get hypothermia!"

Robin noticed from the corner of her eyes Miriel grabbing two heavy cloaks and shoving them onto Vaike who seemed to be stubbornly saying he'd be able to handle it. Miriel proved him wrong as she cast a Wind tome at him, gusts of soul-chilling winds causing him to shiver and finally accept the two cloaks and put them on, becoming akin to a small mound of brown than anything human-like.

Robin rotated back her attention to the trio currently leading the Shepherds.

"So, this is the entrance to Regna Ferox?" Robin queried as she gawked upon the colossal structure they were approaching, the towering bastion appearing to stretch on as far as the eye could see, as towering as thirty men and seemingly made of frozen stone.

"Yes," Chrom nodded, "This is the Longfort, a nearly ancient stronghold that stretches along the border of Ylisse and Regna Ferox, the entry-point into Regna Ferox itself."

"The khans the rule Ferox have grown quite wary of foreigners as of late," Frederick supplied his own piece of input. "Still, don't mistake a lack of hostility for open hostility." he advised as they neared, "This simply calls for a bit of diplomacy."

Chrom seemed mostly nonplussed, but a slight contortion managed to break through his façade of calm. "Negotiation's aren't particularly my strong suit," he admitted, "but I'll do my best."

He stopped and turned back to the supply caravans and the remainder of the Shepherds behind him. "Remember everyone," he called out grabbing each of their attention, the Shepherds quieting down as he did so, "Your actions here reflect upon Ylisse."

With his piece said he continued onwards, intent on making his way to the Longfort before nightfall came.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans in store for them.

Robin being one of the more attentive within the group, noticed that the Feroxi guards had begun mobilising upon the battlements. "Chrom! The Feroxi! They're beginning to rally!" she shouted to him, Chrom and the others discontinuing a reasonable distance away from the Longfort but still close enough to visibly see the guards marshaling in the ramparts above.

"What?! Why?" he cried in bewilderment, observing in incomprehension as they completed mobilising.

"Who can say, Milord? However, it seems they look ready to fly the dogs of war at nary a moment's notice." Frederick stoically expressed. "We'd best prepare for combat just to be safe. Perhaps we ought to pool our supplies and select which Shepherds to deploy? As much as I do still fear to trust her, Robin's insight into what may come shall prove invaluable…" he admitted, failing to look at Robin as he spoke.

"Indeed, she IS out tactician after all," Chrom reminded at him, his attention shifting to the person in question. "So, Robin? What do you suggest?"

Robin looked at the situation, the current scenario looking bleak in her head.

"We can't do anything…" she muttered.

Everyone around her blinked.

"What?" Lissa shrieked.

"We can't do anything," Robin repeated once more, "If we do anything just because they're mustering up their guard, we'd be in the wrong."

"If we fight without any provocation, Ylisse won't just have Plegia to deal with, but Ferox as well." She explained to the group. "Ylisse will be stuck between a two-sided war between two neighbors, stuck in the middle with nowhere to go."

Silence ensued within the group, the only noise being the howling winds surrounding them and the noise of shouting orders within the distance.

"So what do we do then?" Miriel asked from the back of the company.

"Diplomacy," Robin replied with a shrug. "Until they make the first move and attack us, we can't do anything."

Understanding began dawning in their eyes.

"We can't attack first because we'd be in the wrong, but if they attack us…" Chrom said.

Robin confirmed his theory, or more the theory she'd been hinting at. "If they attack us we'd be within our rights to retaliate… and if diplomacy actually works, then we'd have the backing of Ferox without having to resort to violence."

"Right…" Chrom nodded in understanding. "We should approach them. Diplomacy is our first while fighting only if necessary."

Chrom made to head forward to the Longfort before being intercepted by his wary companion. "Milord, what about our composition? If we approach with all the Shepherds, we may end up possibly sending the wrong message."

"You may be right with that one Frederick…"

In the end, the group going ahead to talk with the guards at the Longfort would be comprised of everyone aside from Virion considering his arrows wouldn't be particularly effective against the heavy knights that encompassed the Feroxi guards.

"Halt! Who goes there?!" As the group approached the Longfort, a husky but feminine voice called out from the above ramparts. A woman with short blonde hair in heavy knight armour leaned over the battlements, peering down at the group.

The group craned their heads to take a good look at her, Chrom, Frederick, and Robin deducing hat the person calling from above was the commander of the gate guards.

"I'm Chrom of House Ylisse!" Chrom called out, "I seek an audience with the Khans!"

The woman's face visibly contorted. "Not another step, my bold lad! I've lancers at the ready!"

Frederick decides it'd be best if he took up the conversation, the situation already noticeably escalating. "Hold, milady!" he called out to her, "We are not your enemy! The Exalt of Ylisse, Lady Emmeryn, has sent us to discuss matters of mutual interest."

Silence reigned from above as the woman disappeared.

"You have thirty seconds to explain what this 'mutual interest' of yours is," the woman called out, "If I deem it unsatisfactory or that you may be lying, then we'll be doing this the Feroxi way."

"W-What?" Frederick stumbled on his words at that, "I'm afraid we can only discuss these matters with the Khans!"

Robin facepalmed with a groan. "Frederick you bloody idiot… we have no reason to hide what we want…"

Frederick grimaced.

The woman above grinned savagely.

"The Feroxi way it is then."

"Rgh… Emmeryn won't like this at all…" Chrom's face blanched as he heard that, trying to salvage the situation. "Please, good lady? If you'd listen-"

"I've heard enough!" the woman shouted, soldiers to either side heft their lances.

"Men attack!"

The multiple soldiers above atop the fortress walls threw their spears down at Chrom, wooden lances that glowed with a light green hue, unnoticeable to those down below, as they were thrown, gusts of winds gushing from their bases aiding them to reach their target faster.

Chrom braced himself, eyes screwed shut.

The other watched in horror as the spears came hurtling down like meteorites, too far away to shield him.

A large shadow flew over them.

 _ **Thuk Thuk Thuk**_

The spears hit with loud thuds, sending snow billowing into the air. When it cleared the lances were embedded deep into the ground while Chrom had disappeared.

The group looked up.

"Sumia…?" Chrom opened his eyes to see his womanly friend in front of him, beneath his legs a beast flapped its wings as they moved to safety.

Sumia didn't look back at him as he wondered how he got into the air, just scant seconds from being a Chrom-sicle down below. "Better hold on tight, Captain." Sumia warned seriously, "Things could get bumpy."

"Uh… right…" Chrom muttered is shock at this new side of her, the quiet and clumsy girl replaced by a serious and efficient woman. Needless to say Chrom like this new Sumia, just as much as the old one, a little _too_ much. He looked around wondering where to hold on, nothing really standing out as he looked from atop the Pegasus.

Eventually, he settled on holding onto the only support atop the Pegasus.

Sumia.

His arms settled around her mid-section eliciting a blush from the woman, but soon receded in the face of battle. "You'll be fine… don't worry," she assured him.

Down below more Feroxi knights threw their spears, the spears themselves glowed similar to the last ones, and rocketed towards the two.

"Sumia!" Chrom warned her, watching as the lances came.

"Right!"

The two dodged the incoming weapons but two managed to nick them, one nicking Sumia in the shoulder while the other cut upon a small gash on Chrom's cheek.

The two landed down with the others in the snow.

As Sumia and Chrom disembarked from the Pegasus, Sumia seemed to revert back to her old, sweet and clumsy self. "Oh, Captain, I'm so relieved I made it in time," she exclaimed in joy, finally relieved of being useful for once.

"That goes double for me Sumia!" Chrom chuckled. He then noticed the creature they'd been riding on, a Pegasus to be exact, "And this – is this the same ornery Pegasus we met on the road?!"

"Oh, she's a sweetheart, isn't she?" Sumia blushed and cooed at her new friend, "Once you get to know her."

"Uh... sure... well, many thanks to you both."

The rest of the Shepherds that were selected to come along rushed up to the two, Lissa, Robin, and Frederick leading the group, just in time to hear what he said.

Lissa giggled as she watched the Pegasus look away abashed, "I think the Pegasus is blushing."

Frederick, on the other hand, grunted sourly, internally berating himself for what he'd caused but nonetheless ready to rectify his mistake. "I think it'd be best if we focus on the situation at hand. My apologies for leading us to this, Milord."

Chrom shook his head, "Not to worry, Frederick."

Suddenly Sumia stumbled, grasping at her injured shoulder, the one that had been hit by the Feroxian's strange lances.

"Sumia are you all right?!" Chrom shouted out in concern

"A-Ah!" Sumia stammered as they flew down below to regroup with the others "I'll be fine," she stumbled slightly as they landed, wincing as she gingerly rolled her wounded shoulder, Captain you need to hurry, we have bigger things to worry about. Don't worry I'll be right as rain in a bit."

Robin heard thundering footsteps come from above, listening as they slowly became louder. "Chrom, they're coming!"

Chrom hesitated, worried for Sumia but nonetheless grinned in return and unsheathed his sword, the others following suit.

"The Feroxi way it is!"

* * *

The gates on either side guarding the exits against intruders, opened as the border guards flooded out,

The Shepherds charged.

Robin charged two of the guards, one knight and one barbarian, sword swing and bolts of lightning sparking in her hands as she fought.

"Take this!"

A stream of thunder struck the knight, the electricity conducting through his amour causing him to spasm wildly as the electricity ran its course through his body before he fell down with a hefty thud. Thankful Robin had enough conscience to not use too much power lest she actually killed the man.

They were trying to make an alliance, not start a war after all.

"Ragh!"

The barbarian, on the other hand, didn't have any qualms about splitting her in two, especially after the fact that she'd already taken out one of his companions.

Robin dodged to the side with a roll as the barbarian's axe came swinging down mightily, cleaving through snow and ground with contemptuous ease. With a heft of his arm, the barbarian plucked it clean from the dirt, sending dirt flying into the air.

A sudden pain flared in Robin's tome arm as the back-side of his axe caught her arm on the way up, most likely fracturing the bones in the process and causing her to almost drop her tome in the process. The barbarian wasn't done however as he rose his axe once more and swung downwards.

Robin rose her sword to block it, even if the sword was merely a bronze sword, it'd do better to have the sword shatter rather than being cleaved in two. Robin braced her sword-arm.

A metal clang resounded as the axe struck.

Only it hadn't struck her sword Robin noted as she looked up.

The barbarian looked at his axe in disbelief, hovering just a couple of spaces above where Robin's sword was ready to block it. It wobbled slightly as he tried to place more force upon it but it barely budged as he tried.

"Wha-" he got out before another sound resounded. This time the sound of metal on flesh. His head jerked and fell into the snow with a thump, joining his companion in the dream realm.

"What the-?" Robin muttered as she watched it all happen in bewilderment. "What happened?"

A chill ran down her spine as if something or someone was looking at her.

"That would be my doing," a serenely calm male voice spoke from in front of her, yet nobody was to be found. "You seemed to be in trouble so I figured I'd give some assistance, you did say to do what we think right, after all."

"What?" Robin shrieked in fright, the disembodied voice more than enough to frighten her. "Who's there?!" she squealed as she pointe her sword to where she last heard the voice.

"Um, Robin?" the voice called out.

"How do you know my name?!" She demanded, swivelling to face the disembodied voice. "Where are you?! Who are you?! Show yourself already!"

"But I've been standing here the entire time?" the voice questioned her, "I've been with you since you joined us."

Robin squawked and dropped her sword as a man in full heavy knight armour faded into view directly ahead of her, bright silver and orange armour shining of him while his eyes were closed with what seemed to be a permanently serenely calm smile stuck to his face.

Robin scrambled to pick up her weapons and pointed them at the man. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Um… I'm Kellam?" the man looked at her questioningly, or at least as questioningly as he could get with his eyes shut closed. "We met back at the garrison."

"Garrison?"

"Um, the Shepherds garrison? When Lady Lissa introduced you to all of us?"

"What? You weren't there!" Robin tried to remember but unable to even recall his face amongst the Shepherds, "…at least, I don't think you were. Sorry if I didn't see you."

The man waved her off, "It's quite all right. I've been told I'm easy to miss."

"Easy to miss is an understatement," she muttered, "Wait have you been with us the whole time?"

The man nodded. "I even helped take out the Chief but it seemed neither the Chief nor the others seemed to notice me."

"Wait… can you repeat that?"

"They didn't seem to notice me?"

Robins mind began to run like a ram at high speeds. "What about the guards here? Do they seem to notice you?"

The man seemed to flicker where he stood as he shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I took out a few earlier but they seemed intent on believing that an archer was picking them off."

All of a sudden Kellam disappeared from view.

"What the- Where'd you go?" Robin asked tentatively as she poked her tome forward.

It touched something that wasn't there.

"Um… I haven't moved," Kellam's disembodied voice spoke up.

Robin's grin suddenly turned uncontrollable. "Kellam?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"We're going to be very good friends!"

"Um… Okay?" Kellam couldn't stop the shiver of fear that spiked through him as he looked down at the voluptuous little white-haired tactician's demented grin.

"Kellam, you're going to be my meat-shield!" she smiled cheerfully at him.

"Uh… pardon me?"

"You're pardoned, now let's go!"

With nary a word, Robin pushed Kellam ahead of her, directing him where to go.

* * *

A couple of archers noticed a snowy-haired woman with a strange coat approaching they gave a look at once another and shrugged before nocking an arrowing and taking aim.

At once the fired.

They blinked.

They knocked another volley of arrows and let them fly.

They blinked in confusion as they watched the woman continue to walk forward unimpeded, the arrows stopping metres before her and bouncing away.

The woman's crazy smile and gleeful eyes would've been a harrowing sight had she not been a head shorter than most of them. In the end, she only seemed weird and slightly disturbing more than anything.

They nocked one more volley of arrows, but this time let them fly skywards, watching as it came falling downwards. They smirked as they watched it fall, guaranteed to pincushion the woman with holes.

Their smirks fell as the arrows bounced off something invisible with metallic dinks and floated there above here.

Then they seemed to slide off and fall to the ground.

The archers looked at each other in worry. Suddenly one of them felt something grab hold of his chestplate and lift him up into the air. The others looked on in fear wondering what the hell they were up against.

"What the flying fuck is going on?!" one of the archers shouted as he looked at his floating companion.

Suddenly the diminutive woman didn't seem as weird, now she seemed downright terrifying. With a wave of her hand, the archer came hurtling down to the snow-covered ground, his head banging off the ground, cushioned by the snow and leaving the others as he was knocked unconscious.

The archers backed away from the terrifying woman.

"D-Demon!"

"R-run!"

They all screamed in fright before trying to run away. The only thing that stopped them was an invisible wall as they crashed into one another, pounding trying to get away from the demon behind them.

One of them screamed as he turned around.

The white-haired demon was face-to-face with him, a genial smile on her face as her eyes crinkled. A tome in her hand crackled with latent magical energy as a spell-circle formed above the demon, sending the soldiers awash with a yellow glow.

The rest of the archers slowly turned around, their attempts to breach the seemingly invisible wall slowly pattering off as they looked at the spell-circle.

They were none the wiser when the 'wall' disappeared.

"Nighty-night~" the Demon sang.

Bolts of thunder sent them into the realm of unconsciousness.

The demon smiled in satisfaction as she looked at their vulnerable bodies.

* * *

"It may be strange, but I've noticed you seem ever so slightly sadistic." Kellam commented as Robin finished dealing with the archers blocking the stairways and began looting their unconscious bodies.

"I found it funny when they began to look like headless chickens when their arrows failed to get past you," Robin said as she plucked a key from one of the archer's pockets, "That's it really, nothing more."

Kellan had nothing to say, merely shaking his head and getting on with the mission. Suddenly, being an invisible giant that not much people paid attention was much more preferable than being an invisible giant that scared the daylights out of people and allowed white-haired tacticians to play demon.

' _Things used to be so much simpler twenty minutes ago,'_ Kellam though wistfully as Robin skipped up the stairs to the locked fortress doors barring the way.

Robin shoved the key she'd found from her fallen opponent into the hole and gave it a twist. The door opened to a knight in blue.

"Frederick?" Robin asked, looking up at the familiar face. "What are you doing up here already? Scratch that, how did you get up here so fast?"

"One tends to work faster and more efficiently in a group as opposed to running off to deal with one's opponent by themselves. The rest of us went to the east side of the fortress and knocked out our opponents. It was only after we reached the top that Lady Lissa noticed you were missing." Frederick gruffly explained.

"Hey! I wasn't alone thank you very much!"

Frederick raised an eyebrow, looking over her shoulder only to view empty air. "I think it truly would've been wiser to have left you in that field."

"I think she was talking about me, sir?" Kellam faded into view causing Frederick to jump.

"GAH!" Frederick shouted in surprise, "Kellam, is that you? When did you get here?"

Robin ignored the two as they began conversing, Kellam explaining that he'd been with them the whole time.

"Hey Frederick, where's Chrom?" she asked, interrupting the two.

"I believe he's currently conversing with the commander of the border guard." Frederick supplied.

"He's already finished fighting her?" she asked in surprise, "How'd he do that so quickly?"

"I believe he rose atop with Sumia and they both took out the captain about a minute ago, I believe right now they're talking about seeking an audience with the Khans."

"Righty then," Robin said with a cheer, "I'll be heading off to the others then."

With a jaunty wave, she walked off.

"I believe you're going the wrong way, Robin, you need to head to the right and the others will be there." Frederick corrected her as she almost headed in the wrong direction which would've seen her walking the length of the Longfort and most likely getting lost in the process.

With a jaunty whistle, Robin swivelled on the ball of her heel and walked off.

"A thousand apologies, Prince Chrom." Robin caught up with the others just in time to watch the commander of the border guard apologise to Chrom. "You didn't exactly seem to be willing to explain as to why you wanted to meet the khans so I had to do my duty in the case you were mere brigand imposters. But not frauds os such would be capable of waging a battle of such caliber!" she grinned.

"I'll send word of your arrival to the capital and escort you there personally." The commander assured him before extending her hand, "My name is Raimi, if you'll be requiring anything on the way to the capital just let me know."

"Thank you, Raimi," Chrom took her hand in a firm shake, "You do your nation proud, we most appreciate your help. Thank you."

With that Raimi walked off to send a letter to her khans.

"Amazing…" Robin said as she and the others approached Chrom. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Lissa healing the wound Sumia sustained from atop her Pegasus from earlier. In a few seconds, Lissa finished with Sumia and began healing the fracture in Robin's tome arm, sending sweet relief racing through her.

"In Ferox, strength speaks louder than words," Frederick added. "I should have known better than to overestimate the value of diplomacy here…"

"I think we should comprehend from today on to certainly not depend on your services at diplomacy, Frederick," Miriel commented as she seemed to stare at him. "Had we been honest with our intention, no doubt needless conflict could have been avoided."

Frederick stayed silent and stoic, but the scarlet hue slowly creeping up his neck gave away his true feeling on the situation.

Lissa decided to save her guardians dignity by changing the topic at hand. "So, can we get going, Chrom?" she asked as she began shivering once more, the adrenaline of battle wearing off.

Chrom nodded. "Yes, it's not like it'll be getting any warmer."

"Indeed, you're right Prince Chrom," Raimi added as she walked back to the group, "I shall be leading you to the capital now, it'll be approximately two hours till we arrive so we'd best hurry."

The shepherds nodded as they recollected their caravans and Virion before setting past the gates of the Longfort, Raimi atop a horse leading them.

* * *

"Woooah!" Lissa exclaimed as she looked at the countryside of Ferox. The Shepherds couldn't help but agree with her

Contrary to her expectations, Regna Ferox wasn't a barren frozen wasteland with no civilisation. In fact, it was quite the opposite, there were farmers and villagers littering the landscapes, guards interspersed amongst them, along with building she'd never seen before, there were even building made of glass. There were roads that led off to a batch of buildings which seemed to be visibly steaming in the distance yet not on fire, the snow atop it melting before it had a chance to set.

Villagers and townsfolk laughed and smiled while children played in the snow, wrapped in furs and leathers. In contrast to everything they'd been told, Regna Ferox seemed to be bustling with civilian life, while seeming to leave in content with the guards.

It seemed almost exactly the same as Ylisse.

"Chrom, look at that!" she pointed at the cuboid glass building in the distance, plants seemingly growing within them.

"Raimi? What're those?" Chrom asked curiously.

"Hmm?" Raimi turned her head looking at where he'd pointed at, "Those? Those are our greenhouses."

"Greenhouses?" Robin repeated, the strange word not ringing a bell in her memory. Miriel beside her leaned forward in interest, the other also keeping an ear out.

"Indeed." Raimi nodded with a smile. "They're used to grow plants and vegetables," Raimi spat out the word 'vegetables' in disdain, "Since the ground here is almost as hard as stone because of the snow, it's nearly impossible to plant anything."

"So what are greenhouse meant to do?" Miriel asked in curiosity, her eyes looking at the glass structure in fascination.

"Well…" Raimi began, her face contorted in a recollection, trying to recall their exact purposes, "As far as I know it uses the soil we dig up and keep it warm, and prevents snow from making the soil hard like stone again."

Miriel's face contorted in confusion. "But… that doesn't make sense… there are no nutrients in the soil to produce growth of plant matter. In addition, the cold outside of the building would still freeze the soil making it impossible for plants to root."

"Uh… As far as I've been told about that, there's a heated running water line underneath it that keeps the soil warm and moist while also preventing it from freezing over or drying up."

"Milady, no offense meant but how is it you don't have much knowledge on this?" Frederick asked, "Would it not be important for everyone to know how it works, most particularly commanders?"

"Fascinating…" Miriel murmured, unconcerned with Fredericks line of question, "The applications for something like this must've revolutionized Regna Ferox… who came up with this…?"

Raimi smiled and shook her head. "None taken Sir Frederick, something you must understand is that this isn't the first creation that's turned Regna Ferox on its head. There've been many others, many that we ourselves don't completely understand."

"Wait, there are more things like these?" Chrom asked in shock, "This in itself looks like it'd make life here so much easier."

"And it has, there's just so many others as well," Raimi replied before pointing to a brightly painted red and white building in the distance, roughly the size of at least nine houses, with a fourth of the building made of wood the rest of it was made from glass similar to the greenhouses.

"As you know breeding or even just having livestock here is near impossible, it's too cold for most domestic animals to live and they die out within months of living here. The creation of the building, this 'barn', made it possible to cultivate and breed livestock without fear of them dying." She explained, a closer look through the glass revealing goats, cows, and pigs all happily living within.

"What about the glass? Is it like the greenhouses?" Miriel asked once she'd snapped out of her musings to listen back in.

"Yes." Raimi nodded. "Similarly it keeps the snow out while a heated water line runs underneath to keep the ground and the inside warm, water supplying nutrients so that the grass the animals feed on continue to grow."

Lissa couldn't help but coo at the animals, baby goats frolicking and tumbling in the grass. Abruptly she noticed something strange. "Hey, why is there a fence inside there? It's only keeping them in one area?"

The shepherds looked over at what she was talking about.

She was right.

The building was split into four sections, one section being the red-and-white wooden building, while the rest of the section was the glass structure, wooden gates splitting it into three.

"Yes, it's to keep the animals in one section."

"Why though?"

"Once the grass of one section had been eaten and trampled, it'll need time to grow. Once this happens the animals are moved to the next section to allow the previous one to grow, this is repeated so that the animal always have grass to eat," she explained once more.

"That's amazing," Chrom breathed out in awe of such a thought.

"It truly is, it's almost ingenious! How've you been able to create these much breakthroughs?" Miriel questioned, a fire igniting in her eyes from the amazing structures dotting the landscape. "Are the more?"

Raimi smiled as she shook her head. "None of this would've been possible if it hadn't been for an individual we found long ago, found him in a clearing laying in the snow outside the Longfort. And yes there are more."

"Well, would you look at that, finding people laying on the ground is seeming pretty common," Chrom teased Robin. Robin smiled at the jab.

"What else is there?" Miriel asked.

Raimi shook her head this time, "I'm afraid I won't be able to answer that. We've arrived after all."

Somehow without them noticing a monumentally large building loomed over them. In front of them was the capital of Ferox.

* * *

"I'm afraid the rest of you will have to wait out here." Raimi apologised to the Shepherds. "Too many people tend to become an issue."

Chrom understood, "Do you have anywhere they may stay for now?"

Raimi stood there in thought before her face lit up, "We have a mess hall they may stay in, for now, food should also be provided. I'll make sure to also get accommodations for them later in the evening."

"Thank you," Chrom thanked her and turned around, "Shepherds you heard her, follow her orders and I'll meet you in a while. Robin, Lissa, Frederick, you'll be staying with me."

The Shepherds nodded, the three splitting off to stand by Chrom, everyone else grouping together. Stahl, in particular, seemed like a kid in a candy store when he heard the words 'mess hall' and 'food'. Raimi moved up to a nearby guard. "Please escort them to the mess hall, also please let know that there are guests coming, I wouldn't want to create a misunderstanding."

The guard nodded and motioned to the Shepherds to follow him and walked off, the Shepherds in tow like a flock of lost humanoid brightly coloured and armoured sheep.

Raimi, after the Shepherds had departed, led Chrom and the others into an open chamber. "Prince Chrom, please wait here while I summon the khan."

Understandingly, Chrom nodded with a smile. "Of course."

With that Raimi left the room from whence she came, leaving Chrom, Robin, Lissa, and Frederick alone as they waited.

"The khan is away?" Robin questioned, slightly unbelievingly.

"Well, it's not as if rulers can always be in one place, more often than naught there's always something to be done or be attended to," Chrom explained. "Actually now that I think about it… the Feroxi DO tend to prefer battle over politics, the khans of Ferox in particular, much rather that battle IS their politics."

Robin smirked as she began to imagine what they'd look like. "A warrior-ruler, eh? I can picture him now! A giant man of unparalleled masculinity, his broad chest covered in hair…" she couldn't stop the giggles that wracked her body.

Chrom cracked a grin at her doubled over form, Lissa giggling beside Robin while Frederick rolled his eyes at their slowly common antics.

"Am I now?" A feminine voice cut through the empty chamber. "…Please, do go on! I'd love to hear how else you'd describe my 'masculinity'."

"Huh?" Robin turned around to face what could only be described against everything she thought; a woman.

The woman in question was clearly of unquestionable strength with visibly dense muscles underneath white-and-red plates of armour. With tanned skin unusual for a place with such heavy snowfall and a shock of blonde hair, she looked like she could've passed for Vaike's much better relative. Except this one used a sword and shield and looked like she'd be able to tear through the Shepherds within the span of a minute.

All in all, basically everything Robin expected a khan to look like, but also nothing like what Robin expected the Khan to look like.

"Y-You're the-?! Er, that is to say…" Chrom stumbled over his words at the sudden surprise. "Ahem, You're the Khan I presume?" he managed out under an embarrassed face.

The tanned woman nodded in assent. "One of them yes – the East-Khan. The name's Flavia," she greeted the two with a wave, "I apologize for the troubles at the border, Prince Chrom, we've been having some slight issues with brigands and bandits alike. However, do understand you're welcome here in Regna Ferox.

Chrom managed to reign in his embarrassment from both Robin's and his own blunders and replied politely in return. "Thank you for your platitudes, however, I'm more than confident we can put this misunderstanding behind us, but onto more serious news," Chrom spoke. "The bandits and brigands that've been attacking the border villages of Regna Ferox, is it true that they've been posing as Ylisseans?"

Flavia nodded with a grimace. "Indeed, the so-called Ylisseans that my subordinate found were actually Plegian dogs. He found documents proving as much on one of the corpses of their captains after he killed all the Plegian invaders in one of our border towns," Flavia seemed to sag where she stood, "It'd seem that Plegia can see some benefit in raising the tensions between your kingdom and ours. To be truthful we almost would've gone to war had it not been for my subordinate, the one I mentioned."

Both Chrom's, Lissa, and Robin's eyebrows shot into their hairlines in shock while Frederick eyes bugged out. "What?!" Chrom shouted.

Flavia only nodded. "You see, as a nation, Regna Ferox is predominantly cut-off from the outside world. So, when we were being constantly attacked by 'Ylisseans', most of Regna Ferox was more than ready to go to war with Ylisse."

Chrom's jaw hit the floor.

"My subordinate, felt as if something wasn't making sense to him. Turns out he was right. After confronting the 'Ylisseans' in a border village, who were already in the middle of pillaging and looting the place clean mind you, villagers had long since evacuated, he killed them all and looted their bodies." she explained. "He found physical evidence that they were truly Plegians, in addition to having been given orders to infiltrate and raise tensions between Regna Ferox and Ylisse, he immediately spread the word. The population calmed down but as of now they're merely simmering with the constant incursions against out borders once more, any good push from Plegia could be what sparks a war."

"I-I can't believe they'd go this far…" Chrom whispered as his shoulders shook, "Damn those dastards!" he roared, Robin and Lissa jumping in surprise at his sudden exclamation of rage.

Chrom breathed heavily after his roar and took a deep breathe remembering where he was. "My apologies, your Grace. My anger got the better of me," he apologised.

"Don't worry kid," Flavia assured him, "Ain't the first time someone's called Plegians dastards in front of me, but just so you know, we here in Ferox prefer plain speech instead of the delicate way you Ylisseans speak."

"Oh…" Chrom uttered in surprise, "If that's the case, you should have a word with your bloody border guards, I almost got impaled by them…"

Flavia laughed boisterously at that. "That's what we call Feroxi diplomacy! If you can't take a hit, then you probably aren't worth the time to talk to." Flavia spoke, "Yes I like you already. I know why you've come however, but regrettably, I'm afraid I can't provide any Feroxi troops for Ylisse."

"What?!" Lissa questioned in bewilderment, "Why not?!"

"I lack the authority to do so." she replied simply.

"Huh?" Chrom exclaimed, "Forgive me, but I don't understand. Aren't you the khan?"

Flavia sighed and muttered something under her breath. "Look, as I said earlier, I'm only ONE of the khans, the East-Khan to be precise. Here in Ferox, the khans of the east and west hold and tournament every four years. The winner of the tournament acquires total sovereignty over both kingdoms, and that means they have the final say when it comes to forging alliances." Flava explained to the quartet, "The West-Khan won the last tournament, you see…"

Chrom and Lissa sighed in defeat. Robin, on the other hand, could sense a 'but' coming.

"So, we are to receive no aid at all?"

"Not if you're going to give up that easily kid!" Flavia slapped Chrom on the back and shook him, "The next tournament is in a week, you see, and I'm currently in need of a champion."

"What does this have to do with us?" Chrom asked.

Robin shook her head at her friend, as much as he was a great leader, it seemed like he was incapable of reading through the lines Flavia was basically implying. "Chrom what she's trying to say is that she wants us to be her champions."

"Ah."

"You're a sharp one," Flavia noted, "But yes, I want you to be my champion, represent the East in the upcoming tournament. If you win and I become ruling khan, I'll grant you the alliance you so need."

Chrom nodded, but one thing confused him, "I would've assumed Ylisseans would have no place nor part in such Feroxi customs?"

"Ha! Quite on the contrary. The khans themselves do not fight – they choose champions to represent them. If we did, the land would be run with the blood of our ancestors and feuds every step you take. Because of this we only involve foreigners, as long as they're foreigners even if they're living in Ferox, they can become a champion. However, I'll be the first to admit that there' never been the inclusion of foreign royalty… that I know of at least!" Flavia smiled at the end of her explanation.

"Would you not already have had a number of people to choose from then? I mean you must have someone that would've been champion had Chrom not showed up?" Robin asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do, it was to be my subordinate from earlier."

"Then why offer this to Chrom, wouldn't your previous Champion care?"

Flavia just shook her head. "I'm being asked for an alliance between nation, the feeling of one person doesn't matter in the face of something like that. Besides my subordinate doesn't care all that much for things such as being my Champion if he has a choice."

"Oh… okay then," Robin muttered.

"Well, in the end, the choice is your's kid…" Flavia extended to Chrom.

"I have no choice, East-Khan. My people are desperate for a solution. Now we face not only Plegia's constant attacks but now the added threat of the Risen has increased the danger for the citizen's tremendously." Chrom spoke, "If fighting for you is the quickest way to an alliance, then we'll take up out steel." he finished with a fair in his eyes, accepting her offer.

"Haha! Oh, I knew there was a reason I liked you, Prince Chrom. I do hope you survive the tournament. Now come, I'll bring you to the mess hall where your companions must be waiting for you." she said.

The group exited the room and made their way through the capital. After a few minutes, of walking the arrived in front of a door.

"They'll be in here," she said while opening the door and entering.

"Thank you, Khan Flavia," the four thanked her and entered.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Yay! Fifth chapter is done, and next chapter will be predominantly from Blanc POV. Also, don't worry Blanc will still be taking part in the tournament, but that's all I'm going to be saying. Also now that Blanc shall be meeting with the Shepherds and soon joining them on their adventures, things will soon be getting interesting.**


	6. Chapter 6: Things happen

**Two-Sided Awakening**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem nor anything belonging to them, that right belongs to Nintendo Systems. The only thing I own are my own original character/s and ideas I create for the story.**

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 **Guest 3: Thank you.**

 **Author's Note: Please read and review so I know what I should work on. Well, here we are with the sixth chapter of 'Two-Sided Awakening'.** **Something people should note is that I only post a chapter once the next two chapter are finished. This means once this chapter has been posted I've already finished and edited Chapters 7 and 8.**

 **For those wanting to know how Blanc's name is pronounced it not pronounced like "Blank" but like "Bl-ahn".**

* * *

(Blanc's POV)

I groaned as I woke up, the bright Feroxi sun shining through my window. I laid there wondering if I _really_ wanted to get out of bed. It wasn't like Flavia needed me for anything today.

' _True, but you still need to finish stabilizing the Wind and Fire conjunction rune, make sure they don't end up blowing up in anyone's face when they're used,'_ I reasoned with myself. ' _If you don't someone's gonna blow up in pieces, most likely yourself…'_

I couldn't argue with that point, especially considering it was only two nights prior when I'd tried testing the runic weapons only for the prototypes to quite literally blow up in my face.

' _You also need to do your daily exercises.'_

With that I rolled out of my cushy bed with a groan, unable to refute that one, beginning my daily rituals and heading for my morning shower.

Entering the bathroom, I stood in a divot in the stone ground and placed my hand against the wall, my hand lying flat upon a Fire rune, slowly easing magic into it. Heated water began spraying down from small holes ceiling and draining down the devoted stonework through small holes in the ground.

This was something I'd created from memory. Yes, memory. As it turned out, four years would help bring back some of my memories as the years passed.

Unfortunately, any personal memories regarding family and where I came from was all but locked from me, everything else such as items, objects, and utilities? Well, those were like water in a river, flowing back to me with ease.

I remembered living in a place so advanced but also so primitive, a place without magic; devices and contraptions that eased the way of living of individuals till everything was able to be done with simplicity and efficiency. Need a nice warm way to get cleaned without your water cooling in the bathtub? Create a shower using falling water and a fire rune to heat said water.

Using whatever I ended up remembering, I developed them as best as I could here. Devising spell-circles or using pre-existing ones for whatever suited my purposes, I'd use tools and powdered spirit dust to create runes akin to the ones on my chest, only much less… painful… and on inanimate objects.

That's how I created my shower actually. Reroute pipes into a small chamber in the ceiling where water would gather, the rune would heat up the water and release it via holes drilled into the ceiling creating a shower, a drain at my feet allowing the water to be washed away.

It was also why Flavia clocked me over the head for destroying my initial room back in the Longfort before I'd moved here to the capital when I'd still been trying to get used to everything and I'd rerouted the pipes _without_ stopping the water flow.

Yeah, fun times.

After that, though Flavia wondered what I was doing. Once I told her the things I'd been begging to remember, she all but demanded me to try my best to implement them all around Regna Ferox, both the East and West sides.

I'd create the plans and runes while others would build what was required. I'd then implement the runes, and voila things were created! Greenhouses to sustain plant growth so Ferox no longer needed to import goods from other countries? Easy, make a glass building, heat up the dirt so it's no longer as hard as stone and reroute a heated water line underneath the ground to keep it warm and constantly supplying the soil with nutrients. Barns so livestock no longer freezes in the cold? Same thing, with larger greenhouses for continuous grass growth, and a three-field structure.

The best part was that once activated, spirit dust would constantly keep the runes supplied with magic or would it be mana? Well, it'd keep it supplied with magic energy, and all one needed to do was supply an extremely minute amount of magical energy to turn it on and off. This surprisingly changed everything since even the most magic inept barbarians had a large enough mana supply to use the runes.

It was also something that was applicable to me as well. As I found out a while back, I had no inclination towards the magical arts. This didn't mean that I couldn't use magic so much as it meant that my internal mana supply wasn't large enough to fully function a spell, even through the use of foci such as a tome.

Of course, I was like 'fuck that' and tried to find a way for me to use magic even a tiny bit, so the use of spirit dust as a medium worked amazingly for my purposes.

This started three years ago.

I turned off the shower with a slap and dried myself with a cloth towel and looked in the mirror.

So much changed in the three years I realized as I looked myself in the mirror. Gone was the skinny boy that had only begun recovering from a torturous ordeal. In his place was a well filled-out man, my hair having gone from white speckled with black to a pure snow white. I also shot up a few inches.

All in all, I looked almost nothing like I had before. The person I was now was more resourceful, stronger, and better equipped.

I stepped out of the bathroom when I'd finished getting dressed and headed to my desk, an open notebook with writing scrawled on it.

It was Mark's writing.

As the years progressed, we'd slowly gotten into a routine. I'd do the things I'd do each day such as studying magic and training my body, and at night when he took over, he'd create blueprints of things he thought I should make, this was actually how I got the idea for magic runes, or what I needed to work on.

We'd work together to continue living, him doing his thing to help me while I prepared my body and wits to help myself.

There was only one thing we ever argued on. My memories.

For as long as I can remember, for the last four years, whenever I'd ask for about information of my family or friends from my past he'd always reject me. He'd say _"You're better off not remembering them, you're too far away to reach anyone from your past. It's better you don't know so you're not hurt."_

As much as I hated him for it, or more hated myself, I still knew he had my interests in my mind.

I shook my head of the rapidly depressing thoughts and looked over my schedule for today.

"Let's see… research and weaponry development; I'll just continue on the runic weaponry then… mess duty for lunch and dinner, sweet…" I mumbled to myself, "Hmm? …that's it?"

"Well, at least I'll have a lot of time to work then," I shrugged it off.

I exited my room and closed my door behind me and began making my way through the capital.

The capital itself was comprised of two large fortresses separated by kilometers of forest, in the middle between them being the capital city. Where I was at the moment was the west capital fortress, the living abode of Khan Flavia.

I exited the fortress and began making my way through the surrounding snowy woodlands at a dead-sprint, intent on finishing my exercises before breakfast.

* * *

It was two hours later when I made my way back into the fortress, my body drenched in chilling sweat, my body still running high with adrenaline and heat preventing me from getting a cold for the moment.

"OI KID!" an all too familiar voice called out from above as I made way through the front gates.

I looked up to see Flavia's smiling form.

To be honest not much had changed with her. She was still the same smiling kind woman that took me in, along with the same strangle tanned skin and shock of blonde hair, looking nowhere near four years older than she had been when we first met. Well, there was that and also the fact she now used a sword and shield instead of an axe.

"Yes?" I called back curiously.

Flavia leaned on her elbows over the ramparts. "I got a letter from Raimi at the Longfort, she said the magic lances you made have been delivered, they'll be making their first official test run today."

The 'magic lances' she was talking about was one of the first weapons I'd recently devised. Using a Wind runic array engraved into a regular lance, it allowed the lance to accelerate at faster speeds through the runes at the base of the spear and underneath the head to propel it forward. The actual name of this is 'propulsion lance' due to the fact they were propelled forward by bursts of wind.

I sighed, "I told you already, they're propulsion lances. You can't just smack the word 'magic' in front of everything I make."

"Same thing."

I would've let out another sigh had it not been for a particularly chilly breeze of wind to rapidly cool the sweat on my body sending a shiver; the type where you can't get warm for a week. "You have anything else you need? I'm going to go head off and grab a shower and breakfast before heading off to my work area."

"Nah," Flavia shook her head. "Just make sure to be on mess duty on time or I'll personally drag your arse over."

"Whenever have I missed mess duty?!" I questioned her, wounded by her statement.

A strangely dainty blonde brow rose at my question.

"Two nights ago, I strictly recall you stumbling through the door covered in soot then disappearing to your room. The reserve chefs had to scramble to make dinner that night if I remember correctly."

"That was one time!"

"Yes, one time while you experimented with your fancy magic exploding lances, the same that you're probably working on today if I'm not mistaken."

She had a point there. At the rate my work took me, I'd probably be covered in soot once more by the time lunchtime or if I'm lucky, dinner rolled around.

"Yeah, yeah… I'll have someone check up on me before lunch and dinner to make sure." I replied and began heading through the gates, my body significantly cooled down now and beginning to partially freeze.

"I'll count you to that!" She replied from somewhere above, no longer in sight.

I grunted in response as I made my way into the fortress, the warm blazing fires warming my body and allowing me to regain feeling in my feet and fingertips.

With a nod at the guards covering the front door, I made my way back to my room to take another shower.

' _I probably shouldn't have taken a shower till AFTER my exercises,"_ I mentally noted as I opened the door to my chambers and began my morning rituals for the second time.

* * *

 _'Let's see… just a few more carvings and the runic array for fire will be finished,'_ I thought as I painstakingly carved runes into the wooden shaft of one of the many lances that could be found at my workstation.

"Done," I breathed out, my eyes roamed over the simplistic runes etched within the wood. Spread over the whole length of the shaft were two repeating runes. I began pouring a mixture of spirit dust and water into the etched grooves, the mixture staying a latent dull blue, very much unlike how the one I had glowed like the stars when it was poured.

I grabbed my notebook from the side of my desk and began inputting the data for the trial.

 _Trial No. 2 of Explosive Lances_

 _Using the data supplied from the first trial, the runes have been modified from a Wind/Fire ratio of 50/50 to a ratio of 60/40. The previous trial led to the lance exploding the instant magic energy was poured into the lance._

 _Hypothesis: Lance will explode on impact._

Grabbing the lance, I moved to an adjacent room that was devoid of everything aside from a few training dummies and bullseye targets. I moved to the middle of the room and hefted the lance.

"Let's hope this doesn't explode," I muttered as a channeled a minuscule amount of magic into my hand causing the lance to light up with red and green. It was-

 **KABOOM!**

An intense burning sensation wracked the left side of my body as I went flying into a wall. My vision was quadrupled with four images of everything I tried looking at and my head ringing like a choir bell, only without the angelic noise and more with white-noise.

I tried to keep my head up for a while longer before I passed out, a dull blue light emanating from my chest region before my eyes closed.

…

"Agh!" I bolted up and patted myself down.

' _Okay, everything's still attached,'_ I filed that away to the back of my mind as I looked myself over. All of the clothing on the upper right of my torso had been burnt away, the lab coat that I used to at least stifle the damage having done absolutely nothing. I watched as the glow beneath my shirt receded.

The spell circle on my chest having healed me once more than I could count. As much as I abhor it, I couldn't deny how much it saved my new lease on life. I wasn't averse to using it when it suited me.

As far as I could tell I could activate it my channelling magic to my sternum or it'd activate itself when there was life-threatening danger and I was unconscious, the only negative in that side was that it'd use my internal magic to activate it and keep it active till I finished recovering before going back into dormancy.

A slight emptiness stemmed from within, the lack of magic instead of my normally miniscule reserves from the circle being quite a bother. I looked around the room once more, noting the massive scorched circle in the centre of the room.

I moved back to my workstation and eased myself back into my seat, grabbing a pencil and beginning where I left off.

 _Result: Trial No. 2 of Explosive lances had been dubbed a critical failure. The lances integrity is still compromised when channeling the runes, the resulting explosion being significantly larger in proportion in comparison to the first trial._

 _Discussion: The explosive lance still exploded with the initial injection of magic leading me to believe that the problem may have something to not necessarily do with the runes themselves but possibly the material of the lances. Alternatively, the issue may have to do with the simultaneous activation of the runes; endeavour to find a way to stop activation of a rune for a specific time, better yet find a way for the rune to be partially active so it explodes on impact._

 _Notes: On the topic of a timer, potential use as an alternative to a grenade instead of rocket propulsion may still be viable. In addition, 60/40 for Wind/Fire ratio had high explosive capabilities._

I placed down my pen and rubbed my shoulder, the cold air being sensitive against the newly grown skin.

 **Knock knock**

"Sir?" a female voice called from the door of my workroom.

"Enter!" I called out.

A maid entered the room with a squeak of the door. "Sir, you're- Are you all right?!" her voice almost shrieked.

I winced, the ringing from before making itself known for a couple of seconds before dying down. "Please," I raised my hand, "Lower your voice. Yes, I'm all right…"

"My apologies sir."

"It's all right," I assured her, "What'd you need me for?"

"Border Commander Raimi has requested you begin your mess hall duties as there are important guests," the maid spoke with a bow.

Guests?

"Guests? I wasn't informed that there were any guests coming today… actually isn't Raimi meant to be on border patrol for the week?" I questioned, something not making sense.

She shook her head. "This is only a very recent development. As far as I've been informed our guests are two royals and their group of warriors, they've been directed to the mess hall while the royals are currently conversing with Khan Flavia."

' _What the hell? How'd they even reach the capital? Flavia should've gotten a notice before they passed the Longfort.'_

"Okay, do you know how many are there?"

"I've been told an approximation of 15 additions at most, however you'll most likely have to cook for them separately as they shall be waiting in the mess hall an hour and a half prior to lunch presumably," she replied.

"Okay…" I mumbled, "I'll head over in a bit, I'll need to return to my chambers and grab a new set of clothes."

The maid nodded wordlessly and bowed before vacating the room.

' _Please by the gods don't be assholes,'_ I thought, the only nobles I really had any experience with were Feroxi nobles, and well… they're from Ferox where fighting is the politics of the nation. Not so much assholes as they were really big on beating the next noble to a pulp. No idea what other types nobles or royals were like, the could be asshats for all I knew.

I snapped my notebook shut and exited the room, locking it behind me as I made my way back to my room to change my half-ruined lab coat to something better and not a stark white with black singes.

* * *

I gave myself a once-over in the mirror, making sure I was at least slightly presentable. I was wearing a black buttoned shirt _(buttons were apparently a godsend according to Flavia, on the other hand though, they're also really hard to make with tree resin)_ , black pants and leather boots with a white cloth apron.

' _This should be good enough,'_ I shrugged and made my way over to the mess hall. As I entered I noticed the people the maid may have been referring to as 'additions'.

I think the reason she said that was because there's absolutely no proper way to categorize them. There were two in full armour, green and red along with the same coloured hair ( _How?_ ), male and female respectively, a woman that looked like the textbook definition of a mage/scholar, one that looked like he'd fight right in here in Ferox and possibly be Flavia's long-lost brother, one who looked maybe like a noble if it hadn't been for the fact the one in red just socked him in the face for one reason or another.

As I made my way to the kitchen, ignoring them, I couldn't shake the feeling someone was looking at me. I looked back at them but noticed something. There was another one there, one that looked like a giant in full metal knight armour similar to Raimi only a silver and orange.

Then he flickered and disappeared from sight.

' _Wonderful, a ragtag group of fighters, two royals, and apparently a ghost as well…'_

I entered the kitchen.

Well, more like I tried.

The moment I entered something hard, pointy and… light? Yeah, something hard, pointy and light fell on me sending me to the ground.

' _What just happened?'_

"Oh, not again!" a feminine voice whined from atop me.

My vision was awash with pink. Like whoever was on top of me was wearing bright fucking pink armour, like it wasn't a guess but they were wearing bright pink and intricately detailed with flower vines all along it. I think her breastplate may have been digging into my ribs, unfortunately, her breastplate was much harder than however cushiony her breasts may have been.

The woman atop me writhed, her armour digging into me.

"Excuse me," I spoke, trying to grab her attention.

The writhing stop, the woman freezing on me. Ever so slowly her head turned to me, her pupils widening like a deer realizing it was about to be impaled by an arrow.

"If you'd please stay still so I can get up that'd be much appreciated, your armour is digging rather uncomfortably," I reasoned. She didn't say anything, her eyes just slowly bugging out even further.

I grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her off, something quite difficult to do mind you from a full flat-on-the-back position. Eventually, she managed to get back onto her feet, myself following as I got back up and looked at her.

For some reason or the other, she seemed to be curling in on herself.

"Hey, you alright?" I checked her over, no wounds on her so she definitely wasn't injured.

"U-Um y-yes!" she squeaked out.

"Ah, that's good… actually… who are you? I haven't seen you around here before,"

The woman seemed to freeze at that, becoming akin to a statue.

"Umm… I-I'm Sumia," she stuttered.

' _Gods…'_ I thought as I watched her fidget under my stare. "Okay, Sumia, what're you doing in here in the kitchen? I'm pretty sure the lunch rush isn't meant for another hour or so."

She fidgeted a bit more, " _mumble mumble,"_

Whatever she said was barely audible for me to hear, just loud enough that I at least could figure out she said something.

"Sorry? I didn't quite catch that."

She fidgeted even more. "I wanted to bake a pie for my friends, they're getting hungry and no one was in the kitchen so I thought if I…" she trailed off.

"A pie? Now? Why didn't you just wait- wait a minute," I stopped, catching her attention in the process. "Did you say, friends?"

Sumia nodded unsurely.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, things now clicking together. "Am I correct in assuming you'd be with the ragtag group outside?" I stuck a thumb behind me in the general direction of the group I'd passed by.

She nodded once more uncertainly.

I groaned.

"Look you don't need to worry about that pie," I told her, "I'm the one going to be cooking for your group so no need to worry, just head back to them and I'll take care of all the food." I motioned for her to scram and made my way into the larder, collecting ingredients such as flour, yeast, eggs, butter, cheese, tomatoes, basil and an assortment of meats.

"Umm…" a voice spoke up behind me.

"Hmm?" I looked over my shoulder with my ingredients in hand to find Sumia still standing there. "You need something?"

"U-Uh, I was wondering if…" she stumbled over her words as I placed all my ingredients onto a cooking bench, "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me baking a pie still?"

I rose an eyebrow.

"For desert of course! Nothing against your food I mean!" she panicked and waved her hands in front of her.

I couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

(3rd Person POV)

"Hahaha!" the chef let out a laugh surprising Sumia, not exactly ready for that response. The man's laugh died off with a chuckle as a wry grin wrapped his face.

"Sorry, it's just this is the first time someone's actually been intimidated by me," the man couldn't help but snort leaving Sumia to awkwardly chuckle. The man gave her a questioning glance, "What'll you be needing?"

"Uh… Flour, eggs, sugar, salt, apples, butter, nutmeg, and cinnamon? Why?" Sumia replied curiously.

The man shrugged as he went back into the larder and disappeared into the room. "Just wanted to know just in case we don't have it."

Sumia stood in the kitchen awkwardly as silence descended.

"Yup we have all the ingredients. How much eggs and apples do you need?" the man called out.

"Seven apples and two eggs!" she replied. After a couple minutes of audible shuffling, the man came out with ingredients in hand, small bags of the powders along with the other ingredients. He brought it over to an adjacent table and placed it down.

"Okay, you can use this table," the man directed her. "Just give me a shout if you need anything, keep in mind though that the kitchen will get filled in about over an hour so you'll have to be quick. Lunch is gonna be soon, so you'll need to be out by then," he instructed her.

Sumia nodded gratefully, "Thank you for your help, I should be done in twenty minutes and the pie should be done in an hour."

The man gave a nod before heading over to his station, Sumia staying at the one she'd been given.

Grabbing the flour and salt along with a nearby sifter, Sumia began sifting the two into a large wooden bowl. Absentmindedly she noticed the man grabbing some powders and mixing them together with some oils and waters creating some form of rough dough.

Grabbing the butter, she cut it into tiny cubes and spread it over the flour till they were thoroughly coated, looking almost like breadcrumbs before adding sugar. Creating a divot in the middle of the crumb-like butter coated pieces she began adding the egg yolks and water combining it together swiftly with her hands, ensuring as it slowly formed into a dough. grabbing a small wooden platter she balled the dough and placed it in before placing it to the side to cool.

"I'd suggest putting that in the fridge," the man's surprised her causing her to shriek.

"Eeek!"

"Fridge?" Sumia questioned once she'd gotten her wits together.

The man paused in what he was doing, seeming to spin the dough atop his fingertips like some sort of plate. Sumia couldn't help but watch as it spun across his fingers, somehow never splitting apart as it did so before he slapped down onto the counter with a loud clap.

He walked past her and opened some sort of metal contraption revealing a small cupboard filled with meats and vegetable and began clearing out some space. "You need to cool that right to make it harden a bit?" he asked.

Sumia nodded in surprise, most didn't know after all that when baking that the dough needed to harden otherwise it wouldn't be crispy when baked.

"Just put it in here and it'll cool rapidly, should be firm in a couple of minutes or so…" the man explained, motioning for her to put the dough inside on an empty and clean level which she did so.

The man walked back to his station and resumed spinning his dough. "Check back on it in maybe five minutes, should be firm by then."

Sumia nodded stiffly, unsure if what he said would be true. But with how sure he sounded, she decided to put her trust in someone who was obviously well knowledgeable in the culinary arts and continue with her own dish. Grabbing the apples, she began to peel them slowly ensuring not to cut herself before coring them and slicing them into thin slices.

Grabbing the sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and leftover flour she began mixing them together with some a half cup of water, watching as they slowly began mixing and melting in the bowl. Putting it aside she moved to the 'fridge' and opened it, grabbing it and finding to her surprise that it was indeed firm like he said it'd be.

She turned to thank him only to be surprised as he seemed to be making finishing touched on whatever dish he'd been in the middle of making, adding all sort of shredder cheeses and vegetables. He was in the middle of grabbing a handful of some sort of meats before he stopped.

"Sumia?" He called out.

"Um, yes sir?" she replied nervously.

"Your group doesn't have any aversion to meats, cheeses or vegetables, do they?" he asked, his hand hovering just above the meats.

Frederick was the first person that came to mind from his question. "Um… one of my companions has a strong aversion to any types of gamey meats, bear being quite unbearable in particular."

The man seemed to freeze, his head slowly cocking towards hair with eyebrows in his hairline while his eyes seemed to have a sort of pleading expression. Sumia stood there with the ball of dough in her hands wondering what she'd said wrong.

"Please tell me that wasn't a really bad pun…"

Sumia wondered what he'd meant. "Uh… it wasn't?"

"Ah good, I'd have been said if someone as lovely as you were a pun person…"

Sumia questioned his sanity.

"Well we don't really serve bear all too much here, not a common species cause of the cold and hibernation, so that's not too much of a problem," the chef muttered as he resumed adding meats.

Sumia shook her head and returned to her bench, cutting away a third of the dough in her hands and rolling out the other two thirds to a flat disk-like shape. Adding the apple mixture to the centre she closed it off with the excess dough as a lid.

It suddenly sunk that she'd forgotten to preheat the oven.

It also sunk in that she didn't know where the oven actually was.

"Uh, sir?" she called out.

"Just a second!" came a reply causing her to look over at him. He was moving the massive slab of whatever he'd made onto a flat piece of metal and was moving into some thin space in the wall before placing a hand on the wall, on top of some sort of etching.

He gave a nod of satisfaction before turning around. "What can I do for ya miss?"

"Um… would you mind if I use your oven?" Sumia asked as she held up her unbaked pie.

The man seemed to stop. Suddenly he slapped his face starling Sumia in the process. "Shiiiiiiieeet…." he groaned out, "Forgot about that…"

"Do you not have an over perchance?" Sumia asked worriedly.

"No no we do," the man waved away her worry, "It's just it's a bit of a special oven," he said and motioned to another steel box, only this one had a glass covering. He gently eased the pie out of her hands before opening the box, placing the pie on a metal surface and closed the door.

"Um… what are you doing sir?" Sumia questioned in confusion.

The man just gave a knowing smile before letting his hand rest on another etching on the box before removing his hand, revealing the etch glowing a bright but dull red. Inside the box, flames sprung to life underneath the slab.

"Baking it, this is special type of oven recently made a while back," the man said before making shooing motions. "Now go back to your friends they're probably worried about you, and don't worry, I'll bring your pie to you once it's ready. Trust me I know when a pie is ready," he said with a smile, all the while shooing her out of the kitchen till she was back in the mess hall.

She looked back to watch him begin working once more on another ball of dough before her attention was caught by the others.

* * *

Outside the kitchen, the rest of the Shepherds were surprised to Sumia come back naught but twenty minutes later, but no pie in hand much to Stahl's and Vaike's sorrow.

"Man, you get kicked out already Sumia?" Vaike asked, grumbling at the lack of pie.

"Actually…" she began, the two perking at that, "The pie's been made and it's in the oven, but… it's a weird one."

Miriel's head swivelled.

"Weird?" Stahl asked, "What do you mean?"

Sumia shrugged helplessly. "It was some sort of metal box with glass, there was also some sort of spell-circle engraved into It that glowed red when the chef inside turned it on. Flames sprung from the bottom but- Uh… Miriel? Are you okay?"

The woman in question had some point during Sumia's explanation gotten up and vanished, reappearing in front of her face-to-face, an expression of unbridled curiosity and want across her visage. "You said spell-circle correct?"

Sumia nodded, slightly perturbed of the woman's strange behaviour.

"Interesting…" Miriel muttered before disappearing back to the seat she'd previously been in, a notebook and pencil in hand, scribbling away.

"Uh… what the hell was that?" Sully questioned, having watched the woman somehow move at inhumane speeds faster than she'd ever seen the scholarly absorbed mage move before.

"It's Miriel," Vaike said like it explained everything.

It sort of didn't but at the same time didn't.

"Vaike... Miriel works slightly different to the rest of us," Stahl reminded him. "Also, I'm mostly sure she didn't have the ability to teleport."

"Eh, Teach's seen how interested she's been here," Vaike shrugged, "She found something new and she's probs gonna do anything can to find out how to remake it, it's Miriel after all."

Silence ensued, none really sure how to process the fact that Vaike had actually said something remotely decently intelligent.

The noise was broken by a door opening, the Shepherds turning to find a chef exiting the kitchen with a steaming flat plate of steaming something and a platter full of jugs and mugs. "Here you go, I got some mead, wine, and water for you all," he said while placing down the steaming plate and jugs.

The shepherds stared at the dish in the centre. It was some type of sliced pastry most likely with cheese and meats and greens. The sight of the dish was strange but the smell was absolutely mouth-watering, something that Stahl could attest to with the waterfall of drool ebbing from the corner of his mouth.

"W-what is this?" Stahl politely asked, the smell making him hungry and wanting nothing more than to devour it, but it wouldn't have been right to eat it without first finding the recipe.

The man rose an eyebrow at him with a grin. "It's called pizza mate, trust me you'll like it." With his piece said, he turned and left back into the kitchen.

The Shepherds looked at each other and shrugged before digging in, grabbing a slice each. The slices themselves were large and laden with ingredients, large enough to fill up a plate by itself much less the whole 'pizza'.

Then they took a bite.

Sumia moaned in bliss as the cheese, meats, and vegetables danced across her taste buds, the taste a delight to her senses.

The other Shepherds were in similar states of euphoria.

"Oh, my word…" Miriel gasped after her first bite, looking at her slice in wonder, "This is delicious."

"You can say that again," Sully grunted out as she drew the slice away, a string of cheese acting as a bridge between the slice and her mouth.

Stahl and Vaike were in the middle of devouring their slice to pay any attention while Virion was silently savouring the food, unbeknownst to most comparing it to the food of his home.

After a couple of minutes, everyone finished their pizzas before turning the view back to the plate after a couple of drinks.

There was one slice remaining.

The Shepherds looked at each other.

The table erupted into chaos as everyone almost at one jumped for the slice sans Virion who was quite wary of getting in Sully's way and Sumia who could already that it was going to devolve into a mess. Surprisingly Miriel also jumped into the chaos of grabbing hands.

Fists soon were flying and Vaike came soon after, crashing to the floor from one of Miriel's blast of wind.

Everyone went silent in shock and surprise at the taciturn woman, the one who was usually the most mature and composed of the group no matter the situation. Said woman took that chance to lunge at the plate, her hand scraping against the plate only to come in contact with nothing.

The plate was empty.

Everyone looked around, none of the others had a slice in their hands. Miriel took this time to calmly dust herself and sit back down in silence, the others following suit.

Kellam for once was joyful of his ability to somehow disappear from sight as he happily finished the final slice.

* * *

(Blanc's POV)

It was around three minutes later that I heard Flavia familiar voice come from the mess hall.

"They'll be in here," Flavia said to someone behind her.

' _Excellent,'_ I thought as I plucked the two pizzas I'd been cooking, knowing that the others outside would most likely have left none remain, at least there'd be one for the royals and one for Flavia and inevitably Raimi.

"Thank you, Khan Flavia," Four voices thanked her as I made my way out of the kitchen, sighting Flavia and four others entering the mess hall.

* * *

(3rd Person POV)

Chrom could say after the long conversation with the Khan involving Plegia and the Ylissean imposter and even becoming their Champion in their upcoming tournament, not much could surprise him.

He was wrong.

One thing he had known about the Shepherds in his long time with being friends with them was that the rambunctious group was always noisy and always cheerful. That's why it came to a surprise to him, Lissa, Frederick and Robin that the group was seated at a row of tables sullenly with a large metal empty plate and mugs full of drinks in front of them.

"What'd we miss?" Lissa asked in concern as she bounded over to them.

"Ah, Captain!" Sumia perked up, Virion followed suit greeting the four while the rest of the Shepherds gave half-hearted greetings.

"Umm, seriously?" Robin wondered, "What did we miss? You all look like death warmed over."

"Food." One of them muttered wistfully.

Chrom raised a brow at Sumia, searching for an actual explanation.

"The chef here made some sort of dish called a 'pizza'," Sumia explained, "Needless to say everyone liked it."

"Oh!" Lissa perked up in excitement, "Is there any more?"

"That's why the others are like this, there's actually no more left."

Chrom nodded, slightly puzzled as to why everyone was that hung up about food.

"Well, I wouldn't be saying that just yet Miss Sumia," a new voice piped up behind the four causing Chrom, Frederick, and Robin to draw their weapons.

The three stared while Lissa facepalmed.

"My, my," the chef holding two large platters of pizza commented airily at sword-point and tome… direction, "If this is how you handle chefs I'd much hate to see how you handle your enemies.

Chrom and Robin blushed in embarrassment of pointing their weapons at a mere chef while Frederick's face minutely reddened as he sheathed his spear.

"Well, anyways here's your pizza, enjoy," He placed one of the plates onto an empty section of the table where the four sat down and left with the other in Flavia's direction.

Chrom and the others sat down at his statement along with Sumia's insistence before she left to talk to the chef to Chrom's slight consternation before he put it aside as the scent of the food wafted in the air.

The four grabbed a slice, unknowing of the various eyes that looked over at them.

"Mmm!" Lissa moaned in delight as she took her first bite, the others following her action.

Similar to the others, time melded together as they devoured the pizza, the four splitting it evenly with two slices between everyone. Sometime during their meal, the chef returned with extra mugs for them, Sumia having returned and poured drinks for the four as they ate.

Soon it all came to an end as the plate was polished off and the four were sated, sitting there relaxed.

Sumia left them as they began discussing the day's events, coming back minutes later with a golden apple pie, promptly derailing their attempt at a conversation.

* * *

(Blanc's POV)

"Okay," I said as I seated myself across from Flavia after I finished handing the pie over to Sumia and joined Flava along with Raimi who at some time joined the khan to eat. "What's the deal with the nobles and their little gang of misfits?" I asked while swiping a slice under Raimi's grasp, said woman growling before going for a different slice.

Flavia rolled her eyes at me, "They're royals actually, and that 'little gang of misfits' as you so affectionately called them are Shepherds."

"Shepherds?" I asked confused, "I may not remember much, but I do still recall the shepherds are people that tend and guide flocks of sheep with a wooden crook and cloth hood, not swords and full armour."

"Not shepherds you moron, they're Shepherds," Raimi corrected.

"…what's the difference?"

Flavia sighed, "The Shepherds are a group under the direct command of Prince Chrom of Ylisse, a taskforce with the goal of protecting all of Ylisse."

I rose an eyebrow and looked over at the shouting group of colourfully armoured individuals, the blue-haired man at the forefront of the group. "They're a pretty small taskforce for such a lofty goal."

"That may be true but they're all supposedly the elites of Ylisse."

Raimi grumbled sullenly at that.

I ignored her grumbling and decided to get right to the point.

"So why are they here?"

Flavia looked at me and Raimi, the both of us straightening as she did, she was giving her serious look. "Prince Chrom was sent by the Exalt of Ylisse to broker an alliance between Ylisse and Regna Ferox."

That floored me.

"Wait to hold up." I stopped her, "Ylisse… the peaceful pacifistic nation wants to start an alliance with the barbarians of Ferox?"

"Yes, they do." Flavia confirmed, "With the uprising population of the Risen along with the current incursions of Plegia against the both of us, they decided that it'd be better if they gained forces from us to defend Ylisse."

"Wouldn't it be better to just straight up attack Plegia?" I asked, "I mean it'd be better to assault them rather than be assaulted? Ylisse had no army to protect them so they'd be easy picking if they're on the defense."

She shook her head. "The Exalt still wants to solves the peacefully."

"Umm… I'm no politician, but I'm pretty sure the mobilization of a foreign nations army in defense of a neighboring country is a pretty big deal considering Ylisse and Plegia are on the cusp of war." I commented.

Flavia once more shot me down. "We're not defending Ylisse from Plegia, we're defending them from Risen so the Exalt can broker peace between the two countries."

"So we're glorified bodyguards essentially?" I asked in confirmation.

"Yup," Flavia confirmed.

"Eh, could've been worse," I shrugged, "So how are we going to do it? We don't have a Head Khan yet, so we can't forge an alliance till after the tournament."

"That's why I'm having Prince Chrom as my representative for this."

I gaped at her.

"I'm sorry, I must've heard that incorrectly. Did you just say you're having the Prince of a neighboring country as your representative in a tournament?"

"Yup."

"…you're going to allow a foreign prince to handle a match that decides you're headship and if he loses may also potentially lead to his death which _will_ , might I add, lead to our neighboring country in raining their might down on us, no matter how insignificant they may be military-wise?"

"Oh don't worry about it, Prince Chrom is strong. Nothing will happen, trust me."

I had no words… this just went beyond the realm of 'what the fuck' and into the realm of 'not my problem'.

"I think I'm going to take a break, I can't deal with whatever the fuck _this_ ," I made an everything motion, "is."

Flavia nodded absentmindedly while downing a jug of mead as I left.

"You still have to cook lunch and dinner."

I stopped in my tracks.

 _'Goddammit, today's going to be a long day.'_

* * *

I sighed as I sat at my desk, the day's events taking its toll on me.

Too much happened today. I can't deal with failed experiments and cooking, but politics? Even just Feroxian politics just gives me a headache.' I thought as I downed a bottle of burning alcohol.

The joys of being an adult. Drinking till your problems aren't yours till morning, or in my case, till they're Mark's problems.

I whipped open my notebook and grabbed a pen before writing a simple passage for him to read after I fell asleep.

 _Trial No.2 of Explosive Lances failed. Needs to be fixed._

 _Also, a group known as the Shepherds under the leadership of Prince Chrom of Ylisse has brokered an agreement with Khan Flavia. Prince Chrom shall be entering as the representative of the West for Flavia, and if he wins Flavia will be supplying Ylisse with an army to protect them against the risen._

I stopped writing as the alcohol started going to my head, my vision slowly swimming as I closed the notebook and flung myself under the covers.

This is gonna be a shitty night for Mark once he comes too.

* * *

I woke up with a slow awakening, the alcohol still burning its way through my body.

' _Ugh, this sucks,'_ I walked over to my desk to the open notebook and sat down.

I looked down.

' _What the?'_

I looked at the book, what it read.

Actually, it was more like what I _didn't_ read.

For the first time since I'd written in it, there was no response.

My notebook lay there in the morning empty.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Yay! Sixth chapter is done, and next chapter will be predominantly from the Shepherds perspective with a few interspersed perspectives from Blanc. Sorry if this chapter seems somewhat flighty but I wanted to get as fast to the Arena Ferox segment but needed to cover a few things up along with the Shepherds having a prior meeting with Blanc.**


	7. Chapter 7: Arena Ferox

**Two-Sided Awakening**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem nor anything belonging to them, that right belongs to Nintendo Systems. The only thing I own are my own original character/s and ideas I create for the story.**

 **Author's Note: Please read and review so I know what I should work on, if you're going to say things such as how it shouldn't be following canon, then just don't bother, I'm going to be ignoring those reviews from now on. Well, here we are with the seventh chapter of 'Two-Sided Awakening'.**

 **Something people should note is that I only post a chapter once the next two chapter are finished. This means once this chapter has been posted I've already finished and edited Chapters 8 and 9.**

 **For those wanting to know how Blanc's name is pronounced it not pronounced like "Blank" but like "Bl-ahn".**

* * *

(Blanc's POV)

It'd be six more days of constantly trailing different types of weapons, correcting their flaws, and eventually, once they were finished I'd move onto my next project. Out of the six days, only two projects had been successfully finished while one was still a work-in-progress.

The first was the 'propulsion' lances or basically lances with wind sigils to boost their speed and piercing capabilities. These were also the ones, I'd found out, that Raimi had used against Prince Chrom to almost impale him with had it not been for a certain interruptive pink armoured and silvery-haired woman.

Her words, not mine. I was very much amicable with Sumia thank you very much, sweet girl if a tad clumsy and shy.

The second one that was finished was a project that had been placed on the bench till I'd returned to them a couple of days ago. These ones were simple 'cauterizing spears' which used a heat rune. The difference between a heat rune and a fire rune were honestly non-existent, they were basically the same thing with the same design and magic capability. The only thing that actually made them different was _where_ the rune was placed and the material composing the medium.

For the 'cauterizing spears', the heat rune is etched into a metal shaft which is then filled with spirit dust mixture then subsequently covered with a secondary layer of metal. This causes the tip of the spear to shine a bright molten red, the heat gathers at the tip causing it to glow red. Fire runes, on the other hand, are placed on the outside of an object and the medium is typically wood for my explosion lances, but some cases can utilise steel such as my oven.

On the other hand, there was still the work-in-progress projects, which of course was the explosive lances.

Yep, these ones for the past week had been causing me headaches, burns, singes, and you guessed it, explosions. Just not the type of explosions I wanted, however, considering they still blew up in my hands as I held them.

My newly-grown skin was a testament to the annoyance of the work-in-progress prototype along with a variety of disgruntled visitors who don't take kindly to explosions rocking the accommodations they're occupying.

"Oi kid, get your head out of the clouds. We're almost here," Flavia susurrated on the other side of the carriage as she looked out the window.

I caught a glimpse of one of the proud testaments of Regna Ferox, one of its oldest monuments from the time of the Schism; the event that separated Ferox into the East and West. The event that led to its creation.

Arena Ferox.

A coliseum made of solid frozen sandstone, one of the densest materials from the time of the Schism, time within the snowy tundra that is Ferox freezing the priorly normal sandstone till not even the strongest people could pierce its permafrosted surface.

The place which had held the fights between the East and West Khan in a bid for the title of Head-Khan Regnant. In order to avoid reckless bloodshed of Ferox's people, a system was devised wherein foreigners would fight in steed for the khans so as to prevent the loss of one of Ferox's leaders and the disputation of blood feuds between families.

A system which led to me almost fighting in Flavia's steed. As much of a fact that I lived within Ferox, I was still considered to be a foreigner due to the fact I wasn't a proper citizen of Ferox, merely a retainer of sorts under Flavia. I _did_ get most of the benefits of a normal citizen but there were still formal regulations the considered me a foreigner.

The tournament between the khans is one such regulation which considers me a viable candidate for foreigner, and thus viable of being a champion.

Thankfully this issue was resolved not but a week ago with the arrival of Prince Chrome (whom I found out to be the brunette with a legendary sword strapped to his waist) and his ragtag group of Shepherds. Prince Chrom whom took up the title of Champion, thus leaving me with the opportunity of not having to fight to the death much to my joy and focus on the failures of my projects much to my consternation.

As we disembarked from the carriage and entered the arena, I noticed a distinct lack of blue-haired champion and their posse of colourful individuals. "Flavia… where's Prince Chrom?"

"He's probably either arriving now or already down in the side rooms preparing for his fight."

"Doesn't he need to see you though?"

"What? Why?" Flavia looked at me.

"I dunno, isn't there like something of a formality that you two need to talk about before the match?"

"Kid… the Champion is forbidden from seeing their representing Khan prior to the match to prevent cheating or discussion of information." Flavia looked at me like I had a screw knocked loose. "Raimi should've told you this…"

"Raimi didn't tell me shit…" I deadpanned.

Flavia's palm met her face as she let out a groan. "Thank the gods that you weren't my champion… had you been, I'm pretty sure you would've been disqualified the moment you arrived."

"Yup," I agreed, "Good thing Prince Chrom agreed with being your champion otherwise you'd definitely have lost any contention you had for khanship."

"It's not like he had a choice, he has a country to look after and this was his only option to get an army." Flavia looked over to me with half-lidded eyes as we began ascending the stairs to where the Khans were to be sitting along with anyone that came with them.

One of the many perks of working solely under Flavia and taking that offer four years ago are benefits such as this.

"Not necessarily," I disagreed.

"Oh? Do tell…"

"Well… he could've gone to the East-Khan, Basilio to get an army but then again that has the same chance of working as going with you," I rationalised. "Alternately, he could have hired mercenaries from across the long sea, I've heard there's a large elite mercenary company somewhere in Rosanne or Valm right about now."

"How do you even know about that?" Flavia questioned as we finished ascending.

I shrugged, "I've been keeping my ears to the ground in case anything important pops up, especially after the Plegian incident." I wasn't about to tell her that Mark had told me to keep an eye on the continent across the long sea a couple of weeks back (It was strange because lately, he hadn't been replying to me. He replied every now and then, but not very often), citing that something important was going to happen soon. As far as I could tell there'd so far only been the desertion of one of Rosanne's leaders and that there were whispers of things happening with the Emperor of Chon'sin.

An eyebrow rose at my statement, "Anything else I should know about then?"

I shook my head. "Not as far as Regna Ferox is concerned. Plegia is still launching brigands and bandits to Ylisse's and our own borders. The only thing that really bothers me is that none have been actual soldiers or warriors of Plegia."

"You think something's up?"

"Definitely, it's Plegia after all. But it just seems strange… the Mad King hasn't been sending his own troops, he wants Ylisse to be the one to start it. Everything that's been said about that Mad King from his thirst for war to the eradication of Ylisse suggests he should be bidding for war at all costs." I reasoned.

"And?"

I shook my head once more. "That's just it, he hasn't done anything. He wants Ylisse to start the war. Had anything about him been true he'd have just crushed Ylisse under foot, they have an actual army after all while Ylisse has a skeleton crew of soldiers."

"So there's something going on behind the scenes?" Flavia slowly became more invested in the conversation, connecting the dots that I'd seen.

"Maybe… things just aren't adding up after all."

We finished ascending to the top of the stairs attracting the stares of two individuals, a Chon'sinian gruff man with brown hair and a mountain of muscle posing as a man. East-Khan Basilio and his right-hand man and Champion, Lon'qu.

"We'll continue with this later."

I nodded silently, my time as a speaker coming to an end as the time for Khans to speak began.

Flavia walked up to Basilio and nodded. "I see you're still kicking you old sack of bones."

A silvered and aged eyebrow rose. "This old sack of bones can still kick your tiny ass six ways till Sunday you little brat," spoke gruffly, the aged khan rising to the challenge of the younger, crossing his arms in the process.

They both stood there, eyes locked in a battle of wills. Neither were willing to back down.

Simultaneously, a smile broke on their faces.

"Ah still as shitty as always you big oaf" Flavia uttered out with a grin while her hand extended.

Basilio smiled broadly while taking her hand into his with a shake. "And you're still the uppity little shit that's been trying to take the title of Head-Khan… I see you've finally got a brat for yourself."

I couldn't help but think when he said 'brat' he was talking to me. The way his eyes seem to drift towards me certainly wasn't helping.

"Ha!" Flavia chuckled as she looked over, "I got this one a little over four years ago… he was meant to be my champion as well…"

Basilio looked at her smug grin, "What? He not up to your standards or something?"

"Nah, someone else came in and took his place, matter of politics and all that…"

"Sure…" Basilio decided to agree for the sake of not going into that honeypot. "Least you had an excuse for your champion, politics does tend to make things messy after all."

"Hmm? Isn't he your champion? Actually, shouldn't he be disqualified?" Flavia jerked her head at Lon'qu who silently watched the byplay, his face flushing at her last two sentences.

"Lon'qu here," Basilio started, "Got beat by my new champion, so no… he isn't disqualified…"

I rose an eyebrow at that, Lon'qu had been Basilio's champion for years, long before I'd arrived.

"Huh… seems your own brat wasn't up to standards like he usually is," Flavia shot at him. "Who's your new champion?"

Basilio grunted in contempt. "Some foreigner going by the name of 'Marth', blue hair and some fancy sword skills under his belt. Managed to somehow force Lon'qu to surrender."

No one but me noticed how Lon'qu's face flushed a scarlet red, something about it not quite right. It wasn't out of guilt for losing but something else… it seemed like… embarrassment? I filed that away under things to keep in mind.

"Blue hair? Is that becoming a common hair color nowadays?" Flavia questioned causing Basilio to look over at her curiously.

"Whaddya mean?"

"My own champion had blue hair as well," Flavia added nonchalantly, seemingly trying to lure Basilio in.

"Really?" Basilio asked, his curiosity over such a trivial getting the better of him. "What's their name?"

Flavia's grin turned feral. Hook, line, and sinker.

"Prince Chrom of Ylisse."

Basilio's brows shot into his non-existent hairline. "The fuck out of here!"

Flavia shook her head with a grin and jerked her head to the side.

"Take a look for yourself."

I looked down into the arena.

Down at the western entrance was a motley crew of armoured, clothed and one half-naked individual/s that began to disperse into the bleachers behind the entrance.

And down there in the arena ring itself?

Down there was Prince Chrom in all his blue glory.

Both Flavia and Basilio sat down in their ornate chairs while Lon'qu and I took a stand by their sides.

* * *

(3rd Person POV)

"Are you sure you're ready? We can always have someone of us swap out with yourself milord."

Chrom merely smiled at his stalwart guardian and friend, thankful for his worry but nonetheless declining.

Chrom shook his negative. "I'm fine Frederick, truly. Besides, I'd given my word that I'd represent Khan Flavia, it'd be remiss of me to back out now."

"I've begun to notice you take your word quite seriously…" Robin muttered from the side as almost all the Shepherds surrounded him (i.e. Lissa, Frederick, Sumia, and Vaike) while the rest, herself, included, decided to give the man some breathing space.

Looking over the gaggle of bodies, his blue eyes meeting her brown, "What type of person would I be if I didn't keep my word?"

Robin merely conceded at that.

A bulky shadow encompassed the room as an armoured figure blocked the way into the arena from the western waiting room.

It took a step forward, the light showing that the armoured individual in question was actually Raimi.

"Milord, the tournament is starting now."

Chrom nodded in return, "I'll be out shortly." With that, she returned back outside.

The Shepherds took a step back as he rose.

"You heard her, you'd best get to your seats," Chrom spoke as he exited the room into the arena with his Shepherds following suit, wishing him their good luck and moving to the Champions' bleachers above the waiting room entrance and seating themselves.

"Hey look!" Lissa pointed to the area where the Khans were situated, the khans themselves visible within the empty arena. Two seated individuals could be seen while two others were at their side.

The seated person on the left was one that Robin, Lissa, and Frederick all easily recognized as Flavia the West-Khan. The one standing beside her in a white coat surprised all the Shepherds, however.

"Is… Is that the chef that served us from last week?" Stahl asked in confusion.

"I-I think it is?" Sumia confirmed uncertainly, "What's he doing beside the Khans?"

"Maybe chefs are highly regarded in Ferox?" Robin hedged unsurely, similarly speculating as to why a chef would be in high-standing with Flavia.

"Maybe he's some sort of super soldier that fights for Khan Flavia!" Lissa blurted out with gleaming eyes, "What if he's her right-hand man?!"

Frederick rose an eyebrow. "Milady… Ferox is a warrior country, I highly doubt that a chef no matter his caliber would be the West-Khan's right-hand subordinate. It is more than likely that he supplies food to the Khans while the tournament is ongoing."

"Awww…" Lissa pouted. "That sounds boring…"

The rest of the shepherds decided to ignore the conundrum of chefs and khans in favour of discussing Chrom's chances of winning.

"How do you think he'll go?" Robin threw into the air as she looked around. Feroxians were swiftly beginning to fill up every available seat within the Arena, some even opting to stand at the back by the walls.

"If everything fares well with Milord, then he should have no reason but to win," Frederick responded.

"Don't worry Robin, Chrom will be fine. It's Chrom after all!" Lissa cheered the last part, a small upturn of the lips barely appearing on her brothers face in the ring.

"What of his opponent though?" Sumia worried to Robin's side, "What if they're stronger than Chrom?"

"Hey hey hey!" Vaike spoke up catching their attention, "Chrom ain't gonna be taken out by some run o' the mill soldier! Have some more faith in him!"

"We have ample faith in milord," Frederick replied stiffly, "It's his opponent that we know nothing about, however."

Movement from the other side caught Robin's eye. "I'd probably change your thoughts about that Freddy, it seems they're coming out now."

Frederick frowned at the name but nonetheless looked at the opposing side.

Out of the opposing arena came a man.

A very familiar man.

"Hey isn't that Marth?!" Lissa shouted in shock as she stood up abruptly.

Robin couldn't help but agree, ' _What on earth is he doing there?'_

"Indeed 'tis would seem to be the same man we met before," Frederick agreed, also taken aback by the sudden appearance of the man.

"Marth?" Miriel uttered. "The Hero King? That Marth?"

Robin shook herself from her staring. "No… this man saved Lissa a couple of days back when the risen came falling from the sky. He came from a glowing portal, the same one as the risen."

"A portal?" Miriel muttered her view solely placed upon the blue-haired man that wasn't their captain. "Interesting… very interesting."

* * *

Down in the arena, both contestants faced off against each other, blue eyes discerning masked ones.

"I'm surprised you're to be my opponent," Chrom admitted.

"…"

The masked man barely moved, much less gave a reply in response.

"I must apologize that we must meet once more like this, but I must win…" Chrom said while drawing Falchion.

The man gave another wordless reply, his body shifting as they both readied themselves for the start of the battle.

Marth drew his sword.

Chrom's eyes widened.

The sword in his hands, in Marth's hands, was a sword that looked exactly the same as the one that Chrom himself held. A sword that there is only meant to be a single one of.

Falchion, the divine sword forged by Naga from one of her own teeth.

Somehow, the man facing him also held one.

"Marth!" Chrom called out, intent on finding the bottom of this mystery," One question before we begin?"

Marth stood in stalwart silence once more.

"Tch," Chrom clicked his tongue as they both simultaneously readied themselves in almost similar stances, Marth's being ever-so slightly different. "Fine, then… Our swords can speak for us…"

* * *

Up in the khan's boxed off section Flavia smiled, an interesting thought coming to mind.

"Hey Basilio…"

"Hmm?" The one-eyed titan looked over at her in restlessness, eagerly waiting for the tournament to start.

Both of their right-hand men shifted.

Blanc, in particular, felt uncomfortable, the gleam in Flavia's eye was unsettlingly familiar.

"I have an idea how we can spice this tournament up…" Flavia grinned, voicing her idea.

"What are you getting at Flavia?" Basilio decided to entertain her request.

"Well… it goes something like this…"

* * *

" **Ladies and Gentlemen!"** an announcer called out from a podium to the side of the ring. **"Today we have yet another momentous occasion, an event that has spanned since the foundation of the building that we stand in. The tournament for the right to Head-Khan!"**

The crowd's cheer was deafening to the ears.

" **In the West, our repeating challenger return once more. We have the Fierce Lioness herself; East-Khan Flavia!"**

The building foundations shook as roars of the audience took to the skies.

" **Aaand in the East, our reigning Head-Khan is back. The Stalwart Titan; West-Khan Basilio!"**

The Shepherds' seat vibrated as early everyone yelled in applause at once.

" **Representing Khan Flavia, we have newcomer Prince Chrom of Ylisse! And representing Khan Basilio, we have another newcomer… Marth? Alright then, we have Marth!"**

The applause was mostly scattered this time, mostly out of polite respect for the champions that may end up having their head tolling on the floor.

" **Well people, if no one has anything to say then the match shall soon begin in three… two… one… G- eh?!"**

Everyone looked around in confusion at the announcer's cut-off. Someone gasped, and a finger pointed into the air. Then two, then three, then five, then eight. Hands and gasps continued to ensure as the Champions both looked up in confusion.

Because up in the Khan's section, both Khan Basilio and Khan Flavia had stood up.

Their hands were raised in the universal hand sign for stop.

"Huh? What's going on?" Both Chrom and Lissa questioned, unbeknownst to them, simultaneously, as the announcers' voice cut off causing them to look up.

Two bodies came flying down from the khan's booth, the khan's right-hand men. One hopping down from the stands and swiftly making his way next to Marth revealed itself to be the brown-haired swordsman that had been standing next to the East-Khan. The other came crashing into the ground ungracefully and sliding across the marble floor as it squeaked against his body, coming to a stop at Chrom's feet with a groan

" **It seems the Khans have something to say people!"** the announcer said.

* * *

(Blanc's POV – Minutes earlier)

"Hey, Basilio…"

' _Oh no... please no…'_ I thought worriedly. The only time Flavia speaks quietly is when she's either _really_ hungry, or she wanted to absolutely fuck things up in the most spectacular way possible.

I wouldn't be completely averse to this since let's be honest, I love seeing thing fuck up spectacularly. Unfortunately, I'm typically somewhere near or involved with the chaos whenever she tries something.

"Hmm?" Basilio looked over at her in restlessness, his lone eye glimmering with interest.

I looked over at Lon'qu.

He looked at me.

We both turned back.

For some reason, I felt I was the only one worried. Or Lon'qu is a master at keeping his face as firm as stone. One of the two.

"I have an idea how we can spice this tournament up…" Flavia grinned, voicing her idea.

' _Oh fuck me sideways… of course… she couldn't keep things like normal for the first damn time I'm here, NOOOOOO it's too damn hard to do that apparently!"_ I mentally ranted while keeping my face straight.

"What are you getting at Flavia?" Basilio entertained her

"Well… it goes something like this…" Flavia started, "We both currently have a champion… we both also have an ex-champion…" she trailed off.

' _You bitch….'_

"You scheming shit!" Basilio guffawed at what she was insinuating. "You want to have a two versus two battle!"

Flavia held up her hands in surrender, "Hey hey, I haven't said anything… buuuut…. I wouldn't exactly be averse to such a thing."

Basilio laughed uproariously, bystanders curiously turning around wondering where the laughter was coming only to find the East-Khan laughing while the West-Khan smiled.

"HAHAHAhahaha…" He wiped a stray tear from his eye then grinned. "I think I like it."

"Hey Lon'qu, you up for it?" Basilio turned to his loyal follower who merely inclined his head in acceptance before raising an eyebrow at me.

"What about you Blanc?" Flavia turned to me, a challenging look in her eyes as if daring me to disagree with her chance at amusement.

I let out a weary sigh. "I don't suppose even if I said that I don't have any equipment on me, you'd allow me to pass, would you?"

"Nope!" she smiled like the devil incarnate, okay maybe not the devil, but like someone who I wouldn't mind throttling had she not been capable of smashing my head in like a grapefruit.

"Very well…"

"Well, there you have it you big oaf! Seems like a double battle is in place!" Flavia grinned to Basilio who smirked and gave a nod to Lon'qu who jumped off the railing.

I gave a sigh once more and began heading for the stairs. "I'll go get some equipment form the armoury and head down…" I said.

At least before something gripped the back of my collar. "Eeeeh that's gonna take way too long, besides you can't fight with anything except for whatever equipment you have on you!" Flavia held me.

I looked over my shoulder. "Flavia… I don't have anything on me except my lab coat and my clothes." Well, that and the chest piece I placed to cover my 'little friend'.

Flavia merely smiled at me. "That sounds like a 'you' problem to be honest!" With that, my body went weightless.

' _What just happened?'_ I wondered why I couldn't feel anything around me except for a strange sense of vertigo. I craned my head upward only to see the ground and a blue figure closing in.

' _Ah…'_ was my last thought as I came crashing into the ground, my body sliding on the marbled sandstone floor with a squeak.

"Ow…"

"Um… you okay? What're you doing down here, the battle's about to start…"

I felt some bones shift as the spell-circle went to work, mana pumping into it, kickstarting the process. Being sent flying from fifty feet into the air into solid stone will obviously end up breaking and shifting some bones around. I looked up at Prince Chrom.

"Flavia's a bitch…." I managed out as my collarbone snapped back into place. "Double battle, Champion, and ex-champions are fighting now. The west champion and ex-champion versus the east champion and ex-champion."

"Uhh… Okay? Why are you here then?" the prince asked dumbly. I say dumbly because he couldn't seem to put two and two together.

"Because current champions and ex-champions are to fight?"

"Yes… but why is a _chef_ down here?" Chrom stressed as he looked at me inquisitively

* * *

Flavia leaned over the railings overlooking the arena, Basilio beside her.

"As you can see we currently have not two champions… but four!" Flavia spoke to the crowd, murmurs spreading like wildfire as confusion rippled across the masses.

"You see, the East-Khan and myself both had a bit of an issue with our champions, both being replaced while our previous champions were still very much alive as you can bey much tell." She waved to the two extra combatants on the arena floor. As such…!" Flavia paused, "We've decided to forego the usual one on one battle till yield or death!"

The crowd roared in displeasure, the only ones not joining in being the Shepherds whom were merely relieved.

"That's a relief…" Lissa exhaled in relief, no longer needing to worry about them losing.

Basilio moved up, taking the audience's attention from Flavia. "No, instead it'll be a two versus two dual battle! The western champion and ex-champion against the eastern champion and ex-champion!" Basilio roared inciting the audience with the prospect of even more bloodshed.

"What!?" Robin yelled at that, looking at the floor below. The odds for them weren't looking too good.

"Wait, what's happening? Why are they changing it so suddenly?" Lissa began panicking herself into a tizzy. "This wasn't what we'd agreed on! Frederick say something!" she continued panicking while shaking the large man beside her.

Frederick merely stayed stoically firm in his support of his lord. "Your brother is much stronger than you give him credit for milady… have faith in him."

"Um, Sir Frederick?" Sumia hesitantly spoke up. "I believe it's not so much the Captain we're worried about as it is we're worried about his partner," she said and pointed at the man who'd helped her in the kitchen. Said man who was also unarmed.

"Why is he even down there?! Much less without any weapons? He's going to die!" Lissa shouted, panic overwhelming her. Panic for her brother, panic for Ylisse, and panic for the poor soul who was about to be slaughtered down below.

"Um… guys?" Robin spoke up unsurely, something about the East-Khans words coming to mind.

"What is it?" Lissa frenzied orbs locked onto her.

Robin stepped back a bit with how out of place Lissa was acting in comparison to her usual self but nonetheless continued, "Basilio said that the fight would be with both the current champions _and_ the ex-champions… correct?"

"Yes, why? Is something the matter Robin?" Frederick questioned.

"Well…" Robin looked at the man as he got up and dusted himself off, nary a bone out of place nor a wince on his face.

"Wouldn't that mean that 'chef' was Flavia's champion before we came along?"

The Shepherds went silent.

* * *

(Blanc's POV)

I looked up at him from my place on the ground. Getting to my feet I dusted my lab coat off.

"Prince Chrom… I AM the previous champion. The name is Blanc, at your service." I gave a flourished bow.

* * *

(3rd Person POV)

Chrom couldn't' help but stare incredulously at the white-haired man below him as he began dusting himself off and rolling his shoulders into motion.

 _This_ was Flavia's ex-champion?

' _This isn't going to go well… their previous champion was a chef!'_ Chrom mentally commiserated at that.

Had he been any more in a right state of mind, as in not hyped up on pre-battle adrenaline, he would've wondered why Flavia was changing things at the last minute. He also would've realised that the previous champion would've at least had some experience under his belt.

He _also should've_ realised that the strange man/chef was the same man that Flavia informed him butchered the Plegian bandits that'd been harassing the border village.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. As such Chrom settled with mentally complaining while readying himself, the man (chef) beside him having finished dusting himself simply stood there.

Chrom wondered where his weapons and as such asked.

"Don't have any… Flavia didn't let me get any before she threw me down here," was the man's simple response with a shrug.

Chrom hated his luck.

Blanc began adjusting his cuffs.

"So, what's the plan then? You happen to have anything up those white sleeves of yours?" Chrom asked, hoping to Naga that the man was even anything as resourceful like his tactician.

Blanc deadpanned at him. "I JUST said that I don't have anything… I'm not a magician, and no. I don't have anything up these 'white sleeves of mine' as you'd put it." To prove his point he rolled up his sleeves revealing toned but empty forearms.

"The plan is that we each take an opponent and hope for the best. I don't know really… impromptu planning isn't exactly my forte, much less planning after having my head knocked around like a bag of sweets." Blanc shrugged.

Chrom truly hated his luck.

"I'll leave you to mysterious Blue over there," Blank jerked his head over to Marth. "Seems like the two of you have some unresolved family business to attend to."

Chrom looked at the man strangely, "We're not related though…."

A white eyebrow rose. "You two certainly look the part. Blue hair, blue clothes, same shoe style, and same fancy golden impractical looking blade."

"Hey!" Chrom shouted when he finished digesting what he'd said. "The Falchion isn't an impractical blade! It's a royal heirloom!"

"The hook end of an armourslayer can flick it out of your hands if it gets caught in the guard," Blanc pointed out at the teardrop hole.

"I… you…." Chrom tried to refute him but logically speaking he was right. "Shut up… just go and focus on your opponent."

"HA!" Blanc barked out a laugh. "We should probably start getting ready Prince, the fights about to start." he pointed to the announcer who was about to start counting down.

Chrom nodded and readied his sword. On the opposite side, Lon'qu and Marth readied themselves, both in two different stances.

Blanc lowered his center of mass till he was in a faux crouch. The tension in the air was almost palpable as the contestants waited for the signal.

" **Begin!"**

* * *

Chrom advanced with a leap, Marth following suit with thrust, their blades meeting halfway in a shower of flashes. "Tell me!" Chrom shouted as they leapt back, their blades meeting over and over, more and more, sparks flying as they met. "Who taught you to fight like that?!" he grunted as they met in a flurry of strikes.

"Grr…" Marth grunted, his smaller body losing ground as they fought, Chrom keeping him on the defensive. Their blades met in a deadlock, twin swords grinding against each other as sparks and smoke filled the air.

Chrom began adding force to the deadlock slowly forcing Marth to his knees, all of a sudden Marth changed his grip, his sword sliding across the side of Chrom's and the pommel smashing into his shoulder.

Chrom shook it off and attacked with renewed fury, but Marth parried his swings, his own sword cutting shallowly across Chrom's skin, slowly dotting him with blood. "The people who taught me… were my father…" Marth threw his sword into the air and dodged Chrom's slash, catching the sword as it fell and slashed at Chrom's unprotected back, barely cutting through the cloth and a thin stretch of skin, "… and my uncle!" Marth shouted as he swung, once more catching Chrom in a deadlock.

Off to the side, Blanc and Lon'qu were in a deadly dance of blades and fists. Lon'qu being at the advantage due to his strength, skill and extended reach of his blade, however, Blanc weaved in between the strokes of his sword with ease as his hands slammed into Lon'qu's wrists disarming him, only for a hand to blur and grab the sword and move into another strike.

Up above the Shepherds watched as the battle raged on.

"Amazing…" Lissa breathed out in awe as she watched the chef and the brown-haired swordsman fight. "It's like he knows where he'll be hit…"

"Milady, as much as it is amazing to see them fight perhaps' it'd be pertinent to concern over your brother, he seems to be on the back leg so to speak," Frederick said, Lissa's view switching from the fist and sword fight to her brother.

Frederick was right.

As skilled as Chrom was, Marth was simply better. Marth was faster, more skilled, and his style of fighting while slightly unorthodox in that he temporarily relinquished hold of his blade to dodge before catching it, it allowed him for more than once avoid Chrom's assault before counterattacking in nary an instant. The only thing that Chrom excelled in, in comparison, was the fact that he seemed to be heavier and stronger, the few slashes he did get in creating gashes in Marth's clothes or long swaths of sliced skin.

"I must admit there is something strange about this Marth character…" Frederick muttered.

Lissa rolled her eyes, "Frederick you find many people to be strange… You found Robin to be strange!"

Frederick shook his head. "Not like the usual strange milady, I mean it's strange how this Marth fights. He fights so similarly to milord it's uncanny, the only difference is that he seems much more… flexible… adaptable to the battlefield."

Lissa gave him a look. "You lost me Freddy…"

Frederick pointed down to the two as Marth caught the center of Chrom's falchion with the extended guard of his own replica and flicked his wrist, sending Chrom's falchion flying. "Of all the people and brigands, we've encountered; _none_ have ever done anything like that, much less done it with such finesse and confidence. There's also another thing…"

Marth thrust his sword forward, the blade slicing across Chrom's arm leaving a trail of blood as Falchion landed back in his hand, a slash forcing Marth to dodge lest he be bifurcated through his stomach.

"…not once has Marth gone for a killing blow… just then he could've thrust his sword through milord heart, or previously sliced through his spine as much as it pains me to admit. This Marth is actively avoiding hurting milord."

"Frederick..." Robin started slowly, "…what are you getting at here?"

Frederick looked at the Shepherds. "I believe there's more to Marth than what would meet the eye…"

Robin and Lissa went silent, the thought creating a feeling of unease deep within.

A roar of pleasure suddenly rippled across the audience causing them to look down in confusion.

Chrom and Marth were still fighting so what happened?

They're view moved to the other fighting contestants. Robin and Lissa gasped.

It seemed a mistake had been made some time through their fight because down in the arena Lon'qu's blade was dripping red with blood as the man stepped back out of the reach of his opponent's flying fist.

Audible gurgling came from Blanc as he spat out a glob of blood, a dribble of crimson falling onto the handle of Lon'qu's blade.

The handle that was embedded into his gut.

There down in the arena was Blanc, Lon'qu's sword impaling him just below his sternum, it's metal blade erupting out of his back.

Lissa gasped at the sight, the crimson-stained blade shining in the warm light. The clashing swords faded into the background as the man stood there frozen like a statue. Lon'qu took a couple of steps back watching his impaled opponent cautiously as he did so, something not quite feeling right with the situation. Something felt _wrong_.

The white-haired man's shoulders shook.

The stadium went silent, the only noise being the clashing of blades and grunts from the other two.

"HehehehahAHAHAHA!" the man began _laughing_ much to the Shepherds disconcertion; most people don't laugh when they're impaled through the center and out the other side by a sword.

"HAhahahaaa…" the man's laughter crawled to a slow as his hands rose, Lon'qu tensed as the hands fell onto the hilt of the blade.

"What's he doing, he's going to hurt himself!" Lissa screamed in alarm, Frederick and Robin beside her watching in intrigue.

With a heave the blade tore free, blood spurting out of the wound while the snow-haired man grinned without a care in the world as he held the self-bloodied sword to his side.

"Let's even the playing field… _shall we?_ " His eyes gleamed as he held the sword in the air.

Eyes were fixed to the sight, beholden to such a crazed action.

Then the blade went flying.

Eyes widened as the blade fell to clatter outside of the ring.

Silence rang out as people just stared, incomprehension as they looked at the two now unarmed men.

The snowy-haired man crouched into a stance, Lon'qu following suit but seemingly much more out of necessity than comfort, close quarters combat not his specialty, being considerably more focused on swordsmanship than any other fighting style.

"Yes…" Blanc drawled out, "Now the fun begins!"

With a burst, he was gone. Lon'qu held his arms up defensively and steadied himself.

First mistake.

In an instant, Blanc reappeared in front of him with a fist cocked back and aiming for his face causing Lon'qu to raise his guard. "Wrong move…" Blanc grinned as his leg came up from the side, smashing into the side of his cranium.

Lon'qu grunted in pain and stumbled around as his vision went swimming, the pain of the strike being bearable but the concussive force rattling his brain like a salt shaker. Grabbing his head with one hand he steadied himself.

The second mistake was made.

With another burst of speed Blanc charged, closing in on him before sliding across the ground on his legs, kicking Lon'qu's feet out from underneath him while grabbing his collar as he shot up, the brown-haired swordsman suspended in mid-air for naught but a second.

That was all that was needed.

Steadying himself, legs ingrained into the ground and core stabilised, Blanc _heaved_.

The brown-haired swordsman went flying, landing with a grunt. As he stumbled to the ground he noticed a glimmer in the corner of his eye.

It was his sword, laying innocently in the dirt beside him.

" **Lon'qu, Basilio's first champion is out of the ring!"** The crowd cheered, the flowing blood enough to keep them satisfied.

Lon'qu stared at the sword beside him as the crowd cheered.

A small smile cracked his lips.

* * *

Up in the stands Basilio gaped down at the man that had thrown his right-hand out of the ring like a ragdoll in the wind. That wasn't what shocked him nor the very fact such a thing had managed to happen to Lon'qu. It wasn't even the fact that this was the first ring-out in over twenty years.

No, what shocked him was the fact that Lon'qu had _clearly impaled_ Flavia's brat, dried blood being proof of that, then that kid shrugged it off, pulled out the sword, and continued fighting barehanded.

"Flavia…" Basilio muttered lowly, his eyes trained on the now three fighters but barely comprehending.

"Yes?"

Basilio ignored the smugness radiating from the woman in favour of taking a very deep breath and calmed his nerves.

"What… IN THE BLAZING HELLS WAS THAT?!" Basilio exploded.

Evidently, he wasn't very successful in calming himself.

Flavia shrugged with a smarmy shit-eating grin. "Weeellll… I'd say that was one of my champions beating yours."

"Don't even give me that!" Basilio waved one of his beefy arms down at the arena. "I mean that brat of yours! With the whole shrugging off Lon'qu's sword!"

Flavia grin closed itself into a thin somber line. "He's been through a lot Basilio… much worse than a mere sword impaling itself in him… that was just a mere pinprick of the pain he's been through, and not one that'd stop him either…"

Basilio stopped. Not once had he seen his fellow khan so somber. He looked back down at the man.

"Is it really that bad?" he cautiously prodded.

Flavia just nodded.

"I see…" Basilio was a man of many things. Carefree and lackadaisical, whimsical as he is strong. But out of all the things that made Basilio, the respect he had for a strong person with a long past was something that shone through.

And if Flavia said that man down in the arena was strong?

Then you could damn bet Basilio would respect him enough not to pry.

* * *

Down below Chrom and Marth continued to fight, both unaware that Lon'qu was already out of the fight.

"Who is your father?! Your uncle?!" Chrom roared as they continued to lock blades.

Marth's lips downturned as genuine blade met its replica. "I believe I've said enough for one day, sir…"

"Hpmh… is that how this is to be?" Chrom clicked his tongue as he broke off the deadlock with an upwards swing, catching the replica blade with Falchion's prong, much like how Marth had done to him earlier, a flick of his wrist sending it flying upwards in the air like a repetitive rendition.

The blade lodged itself into the ground behind Chrom on its way down, Chrom pointing Falchion at his opponents disarmed throat.

"My sister owes you her life, and for that, you have my gratitude. However, within these hallowed walls I represent the East-Khan and the interests of Ylisse," Chrom gritted out, the fact he had to say these words to his sister's saviour leaving a taste like ash in his mouth. "I can't promise to stay my blade, but I vow not to shame you…"

Marth's face went stoic behind his mask as Chrom finished.

"Heh."

Marth smirked, an upturn of his lips showing what he thought of the blue prince's offer. Slowly he began to crouch down, muscles tensing in his legs as he did so.

"Truly, I'd never expected such youthful arrogance from you…" Marth muttered as Chrom readied himself for whatever attack the man may unleash.

Marth _jumped_.

Not like a measly two feet into the air jump, but the superhuman type of jump that Chrom himself was capable of. Chrom watched in unabashed wonder as Marth sailed over him and landed.

Right next to his buried sword as a blue-gloved hand clasped onto it.

"We shall see who shames who! HYAH!" Marth shouted as he spun around in a wide arc, the wind whistling as it cleaved through the air where Chrom had once been. Looking around Marth couldn't find any sign of the blue-haired man aside from a sliced off piece of blue cloth and a pair of footprints.

"Where'd he go?" Marth's voice cracked ever so slightly. His well-honed instincts screaming at him to block causing him to suddenly he spin around to block an overhead slash. Chrom swiped up sending Marth's arm flying with the blade still in his hand before slashing away at his midsection. One slice cut through the cloth covering Marth's stomach once more revealing smooth skin while another grazed his arm.

After a couple more seconds, Chrom pushing Marth on the backfoot, a mistake had to be made.

This mistake came in the form of a bloodied mess upon the floor, the same blood that leaked from Blanc.

Marth slipped, falling to the ground, trying to get up only to be met by a blade.

"Surrender now." Blue eyes demanded of masked ones. "It's over, you've lost."

Marth's lips pulled back in a pained grimace. "'Tis it'd seem… impressive, if not very surprising…"

"Very well… I concede…"

" **There you have it folks! Two for two! Both of Flavia's champions have won meaning our new Head Khan is Khan Flavia!**

The new Head-Khan, her people and the Shepherds of Ylisse roared in applause.

None noticed as a white-haired man hobbled away, clutching at the bloody patch on his white lab coat. None saw how the bleeding had stopped and that underneath the hand was smooth skin

None but a lone pair of blue eyes.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Yay! Seventh chapter is done. Please read and review.**


	8. Chapter 8: More things happen

**Two-Sided Awakening**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem nor anything belonging to them, that right belongs to Nintendo Systems. The only thing I own are my own original character/s and ideas I create for the story.**

 **Author's Note: Please read and review so I know what I should work on, if you're going to say things such as how it shouldn't be following canon, then just don't bother, I'm going to be ignoring those reviews from now on. Well, here we are with the eighth chapter of 'Two-Sided Awakening'.**

 **For those wanting to know how Blanc's name is pronounced it not pronounced like "Blank" but like "Bl-ahn".**

 **Reviews -**

 **Greyjedi449t - Thanks for letting me know, I actually went back and immediately fixed that the moment I saw your review, so thanks very much.**

 **cpluong85 - Well the 'uncle' plays a large part in both the original timeline (Lucina's future) and the current timeline (the present). That's all I shall say.**

 **wyattharto8 - I'll admit your review made me chuckle a fair bit and i've genuinely thought of adding it in one of my later chapters (Credit given where it's due of course to you).**

 **Now some of you may be wondering "Hawkright, why in the blazing hell didn't you update last week? We've been waiting for a whole week!". My answer to you is that well... I** **took a break. I mean seven chapters; a week after week certainly takes its toll so I decided to take a break.**

 **I'll be honest I said to myself I'd take a break but instead, I just continued finishing up chapter ten and almost finished eleven, but didn't release this one till now.** **Plz don't burn me at the stake. I like not being toasty and blackened charcoal**.

* * *

(3rd Person POV)

Chrom reunited with the Shepherds after the events of Arena Ferox in one of the side antechambers of the stadium. "Congratulations Chrom you did it! You won!" Lissa jumped up and down as her brother approached the group before disappearing in a yellow and white bolt.

"Haaa…" Chrom wheezed as she crashed into his midsection, the area slightly tender from Marth's strikes. "Thanks, Lis but… you think you'll be able to lay off me for a bit?" Chrom winced as she detached herself, revealing slightly pooling blood from his cuts.

Lissa gasped and drew her trusty staff, it's orb already shining upon Chrom with a healing light, the wounds dissipating into non-existence within seconds while the rest of the Shepherds continued to give their congratulations.

Footsteps echoed from behind them, heads turning as two figures approached, Flavia and Blanc (Chrom being the only one that knew his name).

"Well fought Prince, quite the show you put on… congratulations are in order I suppose?" the white-haired man greeted him with a slight wince.

"Ah, Blanc! I see you're well, I heard you were injured?" Chrom replied in turn.

"Injured? INJURED?! Injured doesn't begin to start with him!" A little bouncing blur becoming visible and audible within the group, Frederick trying his best to calm the blur. "He was impaled by a sword, a killing edge! And he ripped it out of his stomach without worry for the consequences that could happen! You could've sliced your spinal cord!" hands wrapped around Blanc's collar pulling him down to eye level.

"You could've paralyzed or killed yourself!" Lissa yelled at him.

Blanc merely looked at her before slowly craning his head to Flavia. "I was told the princess was quiet and dainty, not a woman that comfortably manhandles people," he commented blandly, an eyebrow quirking upwards.

"Hey hey Lissa! Easy on him!" Chrom struggled to detach his sister from the man, not as easy as it had been to detach her from himself as it had been earlier.

Beside Blanc, Flavia merely chortled beside him, her eyes glimmering and gleaming with unabashed amusement. Eventually, Chrom managed to hold her up like a little squirming doll.

Blanc rubbed his throat as he righted himself, a reddish imprint from the collar of his shirt chaffing against his skin as Lissa manhandled him. "I'm fine, aren't I?" he asked while displaying the pristine white bandages covering his abdomen.

"Huh…" Lissa vanished from Chrom's grasp, "There's no blood? There should be blood…" Lissa poked at the bandages, trying to find out where the wound was.

Blanc swiftly tugged his shirt back down to cover the bandages, preventing Lissa from poking them further, all the while ignoring Lissa's comment which no doubt would bring forth more questions than he could answer.

A cough broke through the group.

Heads turned to Flavia who looked at them. "If you're all done?" she quickly got out while the rest of them nodded.

"Prince Chrom?" Flavia addressed the blue-haired prince who stood up straighter at her address.

"Yes?"

"First, I'd like to congratulate you on your win, along with my thanks," Chrom nodded back at her. "Perhaps more to the point, I believe you now have your alliance as we promised," Flavia continued, "As such, I'll be providing Ylisse with the soldiers she needs to be kept safe."

"Truly?" Chrom's face broke into a relieved grin. "Thank you, East-Kh… no…. Thank you, Head-Khan Regnant Flavia."

' _Man, that just sounds weird to hear out loud…'_ a certain snowy-haired man silently thought as he watched the interaction unfold.

Flavia's smiled broadened to near unrealistic proportions. "Come! Tonight, we celebrate my ascension, along with a toast to our new allies!"

"Flavia…" Blanc drawled, "We still have many things to attend to before the celebrations…"

"Bah! The paperwork can wait, for now, we feast!"

Blanc let out a long drawn out-sigh in a mixture of suffering and annoyance. "No… I meant more along the lines that we don't exactly have anything to serve… all our food still needs to be prepared and cooked."

"EH? Why the hell are you still here then? Get on it!" Flavia demanded of the white-haired chef who merely rose an eyebrow in return.

"I've already got people working on it, it'll be ready by tonight for your feast. Additionally, we also still need to talk about what you did earlier…" Blanc gave a meaningful glance to Chrom and his Shepherds.

Flavia grimaced, realizing she was about to be torn a new one. She knew Blanc was more than willing to follow her orders, but sometimes she needed to be reminded that not everyone likes being stabbed through the gut because their boss didn't let them get some equipment or suddenly being thrown over a three-hundred-foot balcony down onto solid polished sandstone.

"Uh, Prince Chrom if you'd excuse me?" Flavia apologised with a sweatdrop, her companion tapping his foot slowly behind her. "I have some business that needs to be… attended to," she finished off lamely.

"Sure?" Chrom drew out in confusion, watching as the new leader of Ferox nodded before being dragged away by Blanc, beratingly admonishing her as they faded into the distance.

"Yeesh, and I thought she didn't have anyone that could cow her… turns out I was wrong…" voiced an unfamiliar person behind Chrom causing him to turn around and be met with a mountain of brown.

"Huh?" Chrom craned his head to look at the hulking behemoth of a man, covered in brown skin and scars, a fur collar around his neck and shirtless armour similar in appearance to Vaike's own. A goatee and eyepatch adorned the man's face along with his shiny bald head.

A singular eye gazed down at the blue-haired prince as two stared into one.

"Uh…" Chrom inspected the man, something feeling strangely familiar about him, "Have we met before? You sound familiar… look familiar as well now that I think about it…."

Robin sat down and put her head in her hands, bemoaning the fact that Chrom seemed to have somehow gained short-term memory loss. Frederick and Lissa similarly winced at Chrom's obliviousness, after all, how could he not know that this man was the same man he took head-khanship from?

"Kid I'm the same khan you so rudely removed from power… I'm the West-Khan Basilio," he bluntly put out, Chrom's eyes widening in realisation as he did so, a sweatdrop forming on his brow.

"Uh…. sorry?" Chrom didn't know all too much what he should say, how do you apologize for removing someone from the top of the ladder?

"Bah! It worked out for the both of us… you get your alliance and Flavia gets all the paperwork I left behind," Basilio waved off Chrom's worries with a wave. "You're handy with a sword I'll admit, same with Flavia's brat and his fists. I thought for sure that either Lon'qu or 'Marth' character would've won.

Chrom cocked his head at that. "What do you know about him? About the both of them actually? Marth and Blanc, I mean."

"That 'Marth'? He's some sell-sword with delusions of grandeur and honour, going on about how he'd save the world and such. All I know is that he turned up one evening and beat the ever-living crap out of Lon'qu over there," Basilio nodded to the brown-haired swordsman a bit away leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. "Anyways, he's up and left now, did so the moment the tournament ended. That Blanc brat, on the other hand? No idea, just met him today like you." Basilio shrugged.

Lissa gazed dreamily into nothing at the mention of Marth. Robin noticed this in amusement, "It'd seem this Marth character has a fan…"

"He's so dark and mysterious…" Lissa sighed before re-joining, "Well, I mean, c'mon… he IS dreamy, isn't he? The whole disappearing act but being kind and strong..."

"Chrom's stronger than him I'd think, he did beat him after all," Robin pointed out, "And what about Blanc? He's strong as well."

Lissa's face seemed to scrunch up at the mention of the man. "He knowingly injured himself and almost killed himself. I don't like him…" Lissa hmphed.

Robin stared.

Robin turned to Frederick for an explanation.

"Milady has a strong dislike for individuals that consciously hurt themselves or commit acts of stupidity that may and do end up hurting themselves, she tends to remind them not to hurt themselves," Frederick clarified.

Robin stared, her gaze obviously swinging to Vaike and Chrom, the former of whom winced as Lissa growled in annoyance.

"Shepherds and her brother notwithstanding," Fredrick amended.

"What does she do to remind them?" Robin asked; curious as to what would cause Vaike himself to flinch from the diminutive girl.

"Milady tends to remind them… quite physically… with her staff. She IS milord's sister after all."

"I'm right here y'know?" Chrom spoke up in annoyance at being indirectly insulted by both of his friends. "Lissa, can we please stop with the daydreaming of things I feel like I'm better off not knowing?"

Lissa shook her head free of the thoughts of hunky blue-haired mysterious warriors and throttling white-haired idiots, "Lighten up, Big Brother. There's nothing wrong with a bit of daydreaming."

"Did these daydreams of yours involve Marth in certain ways or throttling Blanc?"

Lissa silence was her answer along with the way she turned away from him.

"Milord Chrom? Milady Lissa? It's come to my attention that perhaps it'd be pertinent that we return home post-haste," Frederick raised, "Your sister would want news of our new alliance as soon as possible."

Chrom let out a sigh as he shifted his attention from his sister to his armoured companion. "Perhaps you're right Frederick, we'd best head off."

"Hold boy!" Basilio held them as his ex-champion approached the group from his place against the wall. "Before you go, I have a little present for you."

The brown-haired swordsman approached the group in silent calm.

"This is Lon'qu, my former champion. He may not be much of a fighter, but he's peerless with a sword. Without it? Well, you've seen for yourself how he is without a sword." Basilio laughed as Lon'qu scowled. "He's as good, if not stronger than Marth in my mind. I can't fathom how he was bested so quickly."

Lissa scowled at the thought of Lon'qu's opponent before becoming enamoured with the brown-haired swordsman himself. "How'd Marth beat him?" Lissa asked as she approached the man, "He looks so big and strong-"

"Away woman!" Lon'qu barked out as he jumped backward slightly at her approach.

"Wh-what did I say?" she stammered in bewilderment as the man regarded at her like she was a plague to be avoided.

"HAHAHA!" Basilio erupted into gut-wrenching laughter. "That never gets old to watch. Squirt something you need to know is that ladies have a tendency to put Lon'qu on edge. Nonetheless, he's more than capable in battle."

Basilio turned to Chrom. "I'd even say he has the making of a khan. Consider Lon'qu as West-Ferox's contribution to the alliance."

Chrom's jaw went slack, "Y-you're certain about this? Truly?"

Basilio nodded with a grin at the slack-jawed prince, "Indeed, he's your man now, one of your soldiers."

"And Lon'qu… you have no objections I take it?" Chrom questioned unsurely.

Lon'qu gave a cool gaze in return. "Khan Basilio gives me my orders. I stab people. I think our roles are clear. I follow your orders now," he replied simply.

"…All right then." Chrom nodded. "Welcome aboard to the Shepherds."

"Oi what the hell's going on here!? I left for like ten minutes!" Flavia hollered as she returned with her companion in tow, one of her ears much redder than the other. "Oaf, what'd you do this time!"

Basilio merely gave a shit-eating grin in return "Nothing nothing, just getting in on the alliance is all."

Flavia rose an eyebrow. "What're you going on about you oaf?" Flavia ground out lowly.

Chrom for once sensing that something may end up getting ugly decided to intervene before it could become potentially lethal with two brawling khans. "Khan Basilio was kind enough to lend his previous champion as an ally, and as part of the West's contribution to our alliance."

"You've sent Lon'qu to join Prince Chrom in Ylisse as your representative? And you didn't bother putting this by me?" Flavia's glare sharpened as Basilio merely laughed her off.

"Fine…" Flavia huffed as she crossed her arms. "Blanc's representing all of Ferox then."

Chrom's eyes bugged out.

Basilio's eyes bugged out

Robin's eyes bugged out.

Blanc's eyes bugged out before narrowing.

"I'm sorry…. I must've heard you incorrectly." Blanc grit out, "You want me to fucking WHAT!? Just AFTER what we talked about?!"

Flavia gazed at him, questioning if he'd really go against her orders. As much as he wanted to, these orders were still within the realms of what he'd obey.

"Tch… fine," Blanc ground out. "Prince Chrom, I shall be the representative of Ferox. I'll be in your care," he imply said before turning away and walking off.

The whole group watched as he walked off, the Shepherds in particular surprised at his vehemence.

"Well… he definitely didn't sound happy about that…" Chrom said. "Are you sure he'll be all right with joining us?"

"He'll be all right, he's just still annoyed about me throwing him into the ring earlier… among other things," Flavia shrugged her shoulders. "Don't worry Prince, he'll warm up to you by tomorrow or tonight. He just needs some time to get it out of his system."

Flavia turned around and looked over her shoulders. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go make sure he doesn't blow up anything before the feast. You also better not leave, it's for you guys as well after all," she waved in farewell as she began heading off to where Blanc had walked off to.

The Shepherds were still stunned by the fact Blanc had openly sworn at his khan, even more so stunned at the fact the Head-Khan was so laissez-faire about it.

Most of the Shepherds at least.

"We're staying for the feast," Lissa commanded to both her brother and guardian. "There's no way I'm about to go trekking in the snow when we could be here nice and warm for the night."

No one argued with her.

Mostly for the fact the little petite girl in yellow was brandishing her staff threateningly.

* * *

The feast itself was more akin to a buffet-style dinner where people grabbed the food they wanted as opposed to a full banquet. The whole mess hall had been changed from its normal long tables situated across its length to multitudes of tables spread amongst the hall with a long buffet table piled high with food along the side.

The feast was in full swing as the hall was filled with merry laughter and the sounds of dished frying and being plated in the kitchen, servers coming in and out every five minutes to change the dishes. Of course, as par the norm for such occasions, there was also the occasional drunken brawl.

' _Okay…'_ Robin thought as she watched a half-empty mug sail through the sky and a punch was thrown among the Feroxi contingent. _'Maybe not the 'occasional' brawl then…'_

She watched from the sidelines as Raimi, the Commanding Border Guard of the Longfort punch a nearby man's lights out causing a brawl to ensue with most of the men around her.

Thankfully this was confined to the table she'd sat at.

Unfortunately, it was no longer confined to the table she was sat at as she picked someone up and threw them, causing them to crash at another table altogether. Said table-diners took offense and banded together causing a table vs table fight during the feast.

Robin couldn't help but wonder if all feasts in Ferox were like this considering no one else was really doing anything to stop it, nor did it seem to be a scarce occurrence among the other diners who were still in the middle of eating, drinking and joking around.

She took a bite of the food from the late in her hands as she leaned back against the wall, savouring the dish that she got from the buffet.

Now, why was she leaning against the wall instead of sitting with the rest of the Shepherds you may ask? Was she ousted from the group or did she for some reason feel uncomfortable with eating with the others?

Of course not, she's eaten freshly caught and grilled bear in a camp by the fire, eating dishes from a buffet wasn't exactly something that'd embarrass her.

No, the reason she was currently eating against the wall standing up was for the simple fact that she'd never seen the Shepherds drunk.

Now she had, and it wasn't something one wanted to be involved in when eating.

She took a bite of skewered meat and watched on as nearly half the Shepherds began having a drinking match, Sully, Vaike and Chrom (surprisingly) trying to outdrink each other, mugs of mead and ale across the length of the table they sat at. Sumia and Frederick begrudgingly staying at the table with them to ensure no one died of alcohol poisoning or fell face-first into their drinks.

Everyone else was either eating against the walls like Robin had or straight-up disappeared, the ones most at fault of this being Miriel who disappeared quarter-way into the feast and Virion who was trying his chance at sneaking into the kitchens for Naga knows why. Stahl and Lissa thankfully were in eyesight of Robin, both sharing a table close to the buffet, their own plates and platters piled high with food.

A loud bang showed Sully stood victoriously upon Vaike's downed body, Frederick trying to get her off him while Chrom was off to the side vomiting into a bucket as Sumia patted his back comfortingly.

"Your ragtag group of misfits are fairly tame for the most part…" a voice spoke beside her causing her to jolt in her skin in surprise and look beside her.

It was Blanc who moved next to her and leaned against the wall, a plate of food piled in his hands as he began eating.

"Tame?" Robin questioned as she watched Frederick struggle to pull Sully off Vaike before her leg caught in Vaike's arm causing the three of them to fall into a pile on the table, Sumia struggling to figure out whether she should continue in helping Chrom or help the other three.

Blanc shrugged, "They haven't thrown any punches yet and there are no bodies flying or knocked unconscious. All they've done is gotten drunk. So yes, they're fairly tame in my books."

Robin rose an eyebrow at that, "Bodies flying or knocked unconscious, what in Naga's name happens around here."

"Miss, something you need to understand is that people flying during feasts is like the most normal thing around here... also I'd suggest you move three steps to the left." Blanc's eyes crinkled into a smile.

"Huh?"

Blanc rolled his eyes and gripped Robin's coat, dragging her precisely three steps to the left just as body went flying into the wall where she'd been leaning against and slumped over unconscious.

Another roar of rage came from a table as it became a three-way battle between Raimi's table and two others.

"Like I said, people being thrown around the place is the most normal thing you'll be seeing around here," Blanc took another bite as Robin looked at the body beside her.

"How'd you know someone was going to be sent flying?" Robin finally asked as she got her wits together of seeing a man fly head-first into where she'd just been relaxing.

"It's been an hour since the start of the feast. Rami so far has been the only one fighting along with that other table since most of them are trying to keep it safe in front of the prince," Blanc motioned to the unconscious prince as Sumia moved him to a seat before assisting the three stuck together. "After he passed out it was only a matter of seconds before things returned to normal."

Just like he said, Robin watched as nearly half of the hall rose up sporadically and joined the ensuing brawl while the other half seemed to be more interested in their food.

Thankfully Lissa and Stahl were more than a fair distance away from the brawl to be affected any much. Lissa's glazed over eyes showed the signs of a food coma while Stahl was still going strong.

"You're not going to join them? I thought a Feroxi like you would be more than willing to join a good fight, you seemed pretty excited back in the ring." Robin motioned towards the proceeding tussle where more than just fist was flying but also plates, wooden mugs, chairs, and the occasional suit of armour.

"I'm no more Feroxi than you are, besides champions can only be foreigners," Blanc declined. "I like a good fight as much as the next guy when it comes down to it, but a brawl? No thanks, I'd much rather not get involved with those thank you very much."

"You're a foreigner?" Robin rose a snowy brow.

"No…" Blanc confirmed with another bite as he watched the brawl continue, "I'm not from around here exactly, woke up in the snow outside of the Longfort before Flavia took me in."

Robin couldn't help but to stop and laugh at how absurd it was. Their situations were almost exactly the same.

Blanc rose an eyebrow at Robin's giggling form. "Something funny, miss?"

"S-Sorry," Robin apologised as she got her laughter under control, "It's just amusing that our situations were almost the same.

"How so exactly?"

"Well you were found by Khan Flavia and she took you in right? Well in my case Chrom found me on the side of the road with amnesia, took me in as well."

"Huh… well, would you look at that," Blanc smirked. "It'd seem the world's a small place."

"Yeah."

Silence fell over the two as they watched the brawl continue while finishing their food, the fighting slowly tapering off as people disengaged with bruises and bloody mouths but grinning faces all the same.

After a while, the fighting finished with a pile of bloody and bruised bodies with Raimi on top with a satisfied grin. Beside her, Blanc gave a heavy sigh and muttered about heavy-armed women.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Robin asked, to whom Blanc nodded

"As long as it's nothing too personal, go for it," Blanc acquiesced looking over at her.

"Well…" Robin thought of how to phrase her question. "Why were you so against joining us? You appeared infuriated at your khan when she said you'd be joining the Shepherds, I'm curious as to why that is."

Blanc let out a sigh, a long one this time.

"I'm not against joining the Shepherds." Blanc put out simply much to the confusion of Robin.

"Really? But you certainly seemed like it at the time."

Blanc shook his head. "I'm not against joining the shepherds as I am annoyed that it was such a spontaneous action, I'm not the best when acting under pressure. Having to fight at the last second in such an important event cause my boss decided to spice things up? Annoying and painful, but at least doable," he admitted, "Joining a Prince's retinue because my boss wants me to be the representative for all of Ferox? That's gonna make me more than annoyed."

"So… it's not so much the task itself but when you were told about it?"

"Mhm… If she told me this maybe three days ago I would've been more than fine with it, two days or even yesterday I still would've been fine with it, peeved but fine nonetheless," he nodded. "But asking me to do it just to get one over Basilio? Yeah, that'd piss me off something furious."

"You're weird you know? Not bad-weird but more a strange-weird type of pers-"

Robin was about to say something before a loud noise of face colliding with stone. Looking at the source of the noise showed it to be Sumia recovering from falling face-first into the ground with two bodies on top her, Sully and Vaike.

"Oww… Robin would you be able to give a hand?" Sumia groaned out as Robin helped her up, Blanc shifting the bodies from atop her fallen form. "Thank you for that," Sumia smiled at the two Sully, Vaike and the Captain are unconscious. Frederick has Captain but I need help with Vaike and Sully."

"Sure thing Sumia," Robin was about to grab a hold of Vaike before a hand snaked it's way under Vaike's arm and hoisted him up.

"Do you two actually know where you're staying?" Blanc asked as he steadied himself with the form of Vaike held over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Both of them were silent.

"Ugh, I'll take that as a no then," Blanc sighed, "Here, follow me."

He turned and moved towards the door with the other two supporting Sully between the two of them.

He stopped just as he was about to kick the door open. "Uh…." Blanc paused and looked around, "You might want to get those two, they look a bit out of it," he pointed to the downed forms of Lissa and Stahl, both catatonic with glazed eyes.

It was a solid twenty minutes before Blanc, Robin, and Sumia were able to get everyone into their rooms.

"Thank you for that Sir Chef," Sumia thanked Blanc.

"Well that's a new one," Blanc chuckled, "You two should probably get some sleep now, I believe we'll be heading out tomorrow early in the morning."

The two nodded and entered the room they were sharing leaving Blanc in the hallway.

Blanc stood there for a moment.

"Still can't believe Flavia wants me to join them as a representative."

With that Blanc made his way through the halls of the west capital fortress of the new Head-Khan.

* * *

It was a fine clear morning that saw the Shepherds of Ylisse and their new additions departing from the capital and making their way to the Longfort border exit, some of them faltering in their steps against the sides of the caravan they'd brought with them.

Blanc watches on in amusement as Chrom clutched his head agony as each step into the snow-fallen ground of Ferox seemed to jostle the delicate brain matter in his cranium. Surprisingly, the other two, Sully and Vaike seemed to be fine and dandy except for the massive lump on latter's head from the former's stunt of standing on it in victory.

Taking a sip from his steaming steel canister, he watched on as the Shepherds walked alongside their caravans in small groups, himself being joined by Robin, Lon'qu, and Lissa in the middle of the caravan line.

"Hey, Blanc?"

"Hmm?" Blanc looked down at the diminutive form of Lissa who seemed to be staring in fascination at the canister in his hand. Well, that and she also seemed to be shaking from the cold even under all the layers of fur that had been supplied to the group. Robin was in a similar case except her furs were underneath her gold and purple coat

"What's that? Is it like a water-skin? What are you drinking? Is it warm?" Lissa belted out question after question while Blanc weathered the storm with ease.

"…sorry you say something?" Blanc looked at her in confusion, his face twisted in curiosity at the slowly fuming princess.

He didn't weather the storm so much as he didn't even realise it was there.

"Hmph!" Lissa hmphed at him and turned away from him.

Blanc gave a quizzical glance at Robin, his eyes asking _'What'd I just miss?'_. Robin merely shrugged in return.

With a sigh a held out the steaming steel canister to the shivering princess. "Here, it's hot so it'll be good for you, it's fairly sweet and creamy so it should be okay for your tastes," he informed her.

Lissa looked at him for a second, then at the canister and grudgingly accepted it. Taking a sip from the mouth of the canister she was more than surprised when something that tasted a bit earthy but just as creamy and sweet as he'd said.

"Mmm…" Lissa sighed in content as the warm liquid made it's way through her system, warming her against the cold marginally, the steel canister itself releasing heat that warmed her chilled fingers.

"What'd you give her?" Robin wondered as she looked at the almost blissful expression that appeared over Lissa's face as she continued to sip away at the drink.

Blanc merely cocked his head at her query. "It's called coffee, a bitter drink derived from coffee beans that can be found in Valm and Chon'sin, predominantly in Valm though since Chon'sinians prefer tea. Pretty hard to import and grow, especially here in Ferox but we managed to make it work."

Lon'qu's head cocked in their direction as he walked ahead before straightening forward.

"Valm? Chon'sin?" Robin questioned.

Lissa continued to slowly drain the canister.

Blanc nodded once more but seemed to be keeping an eye out on Lissa.

"Princess you should probably slow down with that," Blanc warned. "But yeah, Valm and Chon'sin. You don't know about them?"

Lissa ignored him and continued to drain the strangely large amount of liquid that was continued in such a moderately sized container.

Robin shook her head.

"Huh… thought you'd know all about Valm and Chon'sin since you're their tactician and all."

"Wait…" Robin stopped him, "How'd you know I'm a tactician? I never told you that and I'm marginally sure we didn't tell Khan Flavia either."

"I asked Sumia for information on the Shepherds such as everyone's positions within the army," he replied nonchalantly, "Just so I know who to talk to when things happen, and also wanted to know everyone preferences."

"Preferences?" Robin asked warily. To the side, Lon'qu similarly rose an eyebrow at his statement.

"Yeah preferences," Blanc shrugged, "Y'know? In food and all that. I already know Frederick doesn't like bear because she told me back in the capital. I found out Virion has a strange habit for drinking tea all the time no matter the place, Stahl is a fan of sweetened pastries, while the little one here," he motioned to Lissa, "is a fan of dark meats as opposed to white meats. She also has a small liking for honeyed cakes."

"Oh…" Robin blushed, "That's what you meant."

"Huh, what'd you think I meant?"

"Nothing!" Robin shook her head rapidly, "Nothing at all!"

"Okay?" Blanc gave her a strange look. "But yeah, Valm and Chon'sin were where we originally imported the beans, both are nations across the long sea. Eventually, we managed to make them thrive in Ferox."

Silence reigned for a for a while as Robin processed what he'd said, unable to really find something to reply about. After a minute of figuring what to say, Robin opted to just give up and change the subject to something she'd be able to follow. "I'm surprised you managed to learn everyone's names."

"It wasn't that hard, there's only like twelve of you at most. Besides you're all pretty unique."

"In what ways do you mean?"

"Well…" Blanc paused for a second, "None of you hold yourself to a set uniform. You all have personal clothes and armours that you wear which makes it fairly easy to differentiate you all. Stahl and Sully wear viridian and crimson cavalier armours respectively, Virion wears his fancy clothes with a cravat, Chrom with his weird one-armed sleeve, Miriel with her pointy mage hat, and Frederick with his armour over his butler suit."

"Wait Frederick has a butler suit? He's wearing it now?" Robin craned her head to try and see if the man truly was wearing one.

"Well… yeah? I mean he's been wearing it since the moment he arrived. You haven't noticed?"

"I don't exactly make it a habit to look at what people wear you know," Robin retorted stiffly.

"…you are by far the most unobservant tactician I've had the pleasure of meeting," Blanc deadpanned.

"Hey!" Robin felt offended, "How many actual tacticians have you met aside from me?!"

"None, just you. Like I said, you're by far the most unobservant tactician I've had the pleasure of meeting. Of course, by that criteria, you're also by far the best tactician I've had the pleasure of meeting."

Blanc's grin revealed that he was merely leading her on.

"You suck," was Robin's sullen response.

Blanc's chuckle elicited a smile from the white-haired woman a strange dissonance between the man who was angry at his khan and the man who seemed to be wise-cracking every five minutes.

"Pwaah!" Lissa finally took the canister away from her lips in satisfaction.

"Princess… did you just finish all of the coffee that was in there?" Blanc stopped laughing when he realised she'd finished his whole brew of coffee.

"Yup, it was amazing!"

The man let out a long-suffering sigh.

"Wonderful… just wonderful."

"What's wrong?" Robin questioned him as an aura of despair gloomed around him like a raincloud.

"I was looking forward to actually drinking that…" Blanc grumbled as the gloomy aura of despair seemed to grow.

It disappeared for a moment as he seemed to cock his head at the sound of something before addressing Lissa. "Princess I think Prince is calling you? Something about hiding… honeycakes or something or the other from you?"

A blur of yellow shot off in the direction of the Prince.

Robin looked at him questioningly, "What are you on about? Chrom would be the least likely person to do that, Lissa's scary when you hide cakes from her."

"Miss, something you need to know about coffee is that it energizes a person. In my case, it gives me enough energy to allow me to walk through all of Regna Ferox without the need of taking a snow nap. For someone like Princess over there?"

Screams of panic erupted somewhere from the front as Chrom and Frederick seemed to be chasing a yellow blur around the carriages even while they were moving.

"Well let's just say she won't be staying still anytime soon, and there's no way I'm going to be the one dealing with her while she's like that."

Robin watched wide-eyed as Lissa seemed to burn trails through the snow, her body visibly steaming within the cold weather as her blood pumped throughout her body from all the energy being exerted.

"You're a terrible person," Lon'qu muttered to Blanc as he slowed down.

"No, I just like seeing the chaos that I've had a hand in creating."

"…you're still a terrible person."

"Eh, to each their own I suppose."

* * *

"Why are we stopping?" Robin asked as she approached the forward group as they began to slow to a crawl.

Blanc looked from his place with Chrom and Frederick, the latter glaring at him for causing Lissa to run circles around him as he tried to calm the petite princess down. "A snowstorm is going to hit in around three hours," he pointed a small thick grey cloud in the distance, "We'll need to set up camp somewhere safe otherwise if we continue as we are we'll get consumed by the snow."

"You can tell from this far?"

"Miss, when you live here you eventually learn the sign of an impending storm. The winds died down and the snows stopped falling, all signs of a nearby snowstorm. The wind goes inwards instead of outwards causing lack of external wind pressure and prevents snow from falling too far from the clouds."

Chrom and Robin just looked at him. Frederick hadn't stopped trying to burn twin holes into his skull through willpower alone.

"I understand the words you said, but not in that order," Chrom uttered out lamely.

Blanc rolled his eyes. "Oncoming snowstorm is bad. We need a clearing with a high sturdy canopy to prevent snowfall from burying us while we sleep."

"Ah, see now why didn't you just say that?"

"Because I believe Robin was asking me how I could tell the snowstorm was coming from this far away?"

"Shut up and walk…" Chrom stopped for a moment before groaning, "I'm really starting to hate how this is what I'm commonly saying to you."

"Really? I'm beginning to find it quite funny. Two for two so far and both times we've talked you've told me to shut up," Blanc cheered.

"And if the two of you knuckleheads are done maybe we can start looking for a place to camp out for the night?" Robin interrupted.

The two nodded along with Frederick who placed a snoring Lissa in the back of one of the caravans.

* * *

(Later)

"Sir Chef, how long do you suppose it'll take Captain, Robin, and Sully to return with some game?" Sumia asked the white-haired chef as they both worked their way through preparing vegetables and spices. At a nearby table, Miriel was reading from a journal while Stahl was on standby for taste-testing.

"Not too sure, depending on what they hunt, it could take a while after all." Blanc barely glanced as he chopped some onions. "The most common animals they'd find would probably be either boar or deer since they grow winter coats and are the most adaptable to the cold, other than that, it'd be rabbits or crows but considering their scarcity here I'd go with the first two. So maybe around an hour of searching and hunting, I suppose?"

"Wow…" Sumia breathed out in amazement, "You really know a lot, don't you?"

"Not really, to be honest, it's just a matter of knowing the trade."

"What do you mean?"

"Ferox is at heart, a winter nation, therefore most of our produce had to be imported before the creation of the greenhouses. We used to get our livestock from across the great sea while most of our vegetables would be bought from Ylisse. The most we could make do outside of importing food was hunting down the common game and growing winter vegetables."

"But now you can just grow vegetables, can't you?" Sumia pointed out curiously, "After all your greenhouses seem to be wonderfully efficient in that aspect."

Blanc shook his head in negative much to her confusion. "The greenhouses may be able to grow vegetables put there are of course some that can't be grown such as tree or vine vegetables such as tomatoes or avocados. Vegetables grown from the ground have much more success such as carrots, potatoes, and lettuce," Blanc explained, Sumia nodding along.

"You know quite a lot about the greenhouses, don't you?" Sumia smiled.

"It'd be quite sad if I didn't, I did create them after all."

Sumia nodded, slicing through the vegetables as they were given to her. The mess hall was filled with a calm silence as Miriel continued reading and Stahl nodding off into dreamland as the rhythmic sound of knives cutting through vegetables rang out.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU MADE THEM?!" Miriel screeched out as their conversation finally registered in her head at the same moment the realisation hit Sumia.

"Hmm?" Blanc placed down the knife just in time to have his collar grabbed and pulled down face-to-face with the bespectacled mage, an unholy flame of desire burning in her eyes.

"You're going to tell me everything I want to know," Miriel ground out with a strange glee, dragging the white-haired chef off out of the mess tent and into the night.

"Um…" Stahl drew out as he caught up with what just happened, "Do you think we should help him, she seemed pretty fired up?"

Sumia just looked at the open flap of the mess tent.

"Uh, Sumia you there?"

Sumia didn't respond.

Stahl let out a sigh as he got up and gently eased the knife out of her hand and sat her down at the mess table. With his duty done, he set out in search of their new companion in the hands of what could possibly be the scariest person in the group at the moment.

* * *

It would be an hour before Chrom, Robin, and Sully would return to the mess tent with two bears in hand only to find the kitchen filled with the chopping of knives, a nervous Sumia, and an excited Miriel who was in the middle of asking a haggard Blanc questions while he finished preparing the food, nearby Stahl was quietly drinking from a bowl of soup.

"So…" Chrom started as he set the bear in his arms down while Sully set down the other, "What'd we miss."

Sumia's face broke into a grin as she almost fled the kitchen. "Captain you're back! What'd you bri- oh… it's bear." Sumia caught herself as she looked at the two massive bears that were currently on the mess tent floor.

"Yup!" Robin cheered, "Found them a fair bit away, oh this is gonna be good…." She began drooling slightly.

"Sumia? What's going on with Blanc and Miriel?" Chrom asked as he pointed to Blanc who seemed to be ordering Miriel to do something and motioning for her to leave the kitchen.

"Umm, they've been like that for a while now. Remember those greenhouses back in the capital that we passed on our way here?"

"Yeah what about them?" Robin stopped drooling.

"Well as it'd turn out, Blanc was the one that made them. When Miriel found out she proceeded to drag him off to her tent to ask him questions." Sumia replied much to Chrom's and Robin's surprise. Sully, once she realised it wouldn't be too interesting for her merely decided to sit down and try Stahl's soup much to his consternation.

"Wait…" Chrom cut her off with a raised hand. "He," he pointed to blanc who was now ordering a sullen Miriel out of the kitchen with a large amount of success, "Is the same man that built those amazing buildings that we passed when we entered?"

Sumia nodded. "That and many other things, at least that's what I've gathered from what I've managed to pick up from Miriel."

"Wow…" Robin was struck speechless, "I-I'm surprised someone like him was the one to make those."

"Because he's a chef and all?" Chrom questioned.

"Because he seemed to be the type to enjoy creating chaos," Robin amended.

"Hey, I like seeing chaos when it's by my hand and only if it's funny. If it's not funny then it's just called being an arse." Blanc walked up to them as Miriel sullenly slumped over the table opposite Stahl and Sully.

"Hey Blanc, heard the news," Chrom smiled at the man while Robin waved.

"Prince, miss," Blanc nodded, "Yeah figured it'd be best if I got it out of the way that I made those, you know with all the whole not keeping secrets as allies and all that."

"I'm glad to hear you're integrating with us so quickly," Chrom said, "I expected you to be a bit guarded around us to be honest."

Blanc shrugged his shoulders, "It's surprisingly easy to get along with most of you. Hell, none of you've actually yelled at me for setting Princess on you."

Chrom winced at that, "Yes about that, you'd best keep your eye out for Frederick. I think he'll be wanting to have a word with you about that."

"Thanks for that Prince," Blanc nodded. "Now let's see what you've got for use her- oh… it's bear… it's _two_ bears."

"You seem… astonished for some reason." Robin noted.

"You hunted bears."

"Yes?"

"You hunted bears in Ferox."

"Yes?"

"You hunted bears in _Ferox_ ," Blanc stressed while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Chrom, Sumia, and Robin each looked at each other in confusion at what he was trying to get at.

"Yes?" Robin tried once more.

"Robin…" Blanc's jaw clenched as he ground out the words, "Ferox is a winter nation, it snows here all year round."

"…Okay?"

"That means it's always filled with snow, and always cold. Bears typically hibernate in winter seasons."

"…I think I'm starting to see what you're getting at."

"Yes, now could you please explain to me where the flying fuck you found not one, but _two_ brown grizzly bears in Ferox?! They don't even hibernate here since it's always winter!" Blanc breathed/shouted in one fell swoop.

"Uhhh…" Chrom looked at Robin in a plea for help on this one but she could only shrug helplessly in return.

Blanc pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyed exasperation is he saw the silent exchange between the two. "You know what? Forget it, if I didn't have white hair, you people would be driving me spare and giving me grey hairs. No! You people _are_ driving me spare!"

Chrom and Robin could only watch in bewilderment as Blanc hefted the two bears onto his shoulders and bodily dragged the animal's corpses to the kitchen, all the while ranting and raving about manhandling witches and ecosystem-destroying princes and women.

…

"What just happened?" Robin broke the silence as she watched Blanc beginning to swiftly skin and clean he bears of their meat while disposing of the unneeded quantities.

"I believe you've just witnessed the first person to crack under the pressure of the Shepherds in less than a day."

"This happens often?"

"Robin…" Chrom shook his head like he was explaining something to someone particularly dim-witted, "This is the Shepherds, people have tried joining before you and they've been driven mad by us and left. I believe what's just happened is that Blanc's already been driven mad within the first twelve hours of staying with us, but he can't exactly leave."

They stood there and watched as the man in question began lightly frying the bear meat, a soft comforting sizzle of warm food audible in the tent.

"…Have you been waiting for me to crack?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't."

Chrom watched with a grin on his face as Robin stormed out of the mess tent.

* * *

(Blanc's POV)

' _I can't believe they fucking killed a bear in Ferox, the things are bloody non-existent but nooooo they just had to find the only animals that couldn't survive in Ferox and kill not one, but fucking two of them!'_ I mentally groused as I trudged my way to my tent, dinner having long since finished and leaving the cleaning up of the dishes to the others, already having cleaned up the pots and pans I used for cooking.

' _Where the fuck did they even find bears here?!'_

My train of thought was unfortunately broken by a blue suit of armour. A familiar stern face looked down at me with a sheet of papers clutched in its hands.

"Sir Frederick," I greeted him, already awaiting the tongue-lashing I was about to receive.

"Tch," The man clicked his tongue in presumably annoyance.

I prepared my ears for a good ol' daydream. A perfect way to skip the whole rant people have while entertaining myself by wondering how they'd either look like in swimsuits or bundled in furs looking like a mountain. All dependant on the gender of the person ranting of course.

I was therefore quite surprised when I found a piece of paper shoved into my hands by the stoic man.

I looked at it.

I looked at him.

I looked back to it.

I looked back at him.

"Look, Sir Frederick, I think I've gotta tell you this, but… I'm not into guys." I said while waving the almost nude painting of Chrom emblazoned on the piece of paper.

"It's not solely for you, it's for the Shepherds."

"…"

"…"

We looked at each other in silence.

"Am I the first person you've given this to?" I asked.

I truly wondered if all the Shepherds were this weird. Miriel manhandled me and asked me a load of questions that I answered till I got sick and gave her a limit of three questions a day pertaining any information I have. Chrom and Robin are somehow able to hunt creatures that're far outside their natural habitat. Finally, Frederick is going around giving nude posters of his commanding officer.

' _What in the honest fuck is with these people?!'_

"Of course not, you are merely the second," the stoic night responded stiffly.

"Who was the first?"

"Sumia."

The pink-armoured silverette receiving a nude poster of her Captain? Joy, that's going to go over well.

"Can I ask why you deem it necessary to hand out nude posters of the prince?" I asked, just to clarify that there _was_ an actual reason for this.

"So as to boost morale within the camp and gain recruits for the Ylissean army."

…

"There is absolutely so much wrong with that. First off, why on earth do you need to boost morale like that? Can't you just bring everyone to a play or something? There's only like fourteen of us in total. Secondly, you're handing these out to people WITHIN the camp, how exactly were you going to gain recruits if there's no one around for miles."

"I was actually going to post this within everyone's tents," Frederick responded, a small embarrassed blush forming on his cheeks.

"My point still stands Sir Frederick."

"…"

"And lastly why exactly are you trying to recruit people? For what purpose? This group is basically a ragtag bunch of fighters following the prince, not an army of any sort." I pointed out.

We stared at each other once more. Somewhere in the distance, I heard a familiar female's voice say something that sounded somewhere along the lines of "Die!" along with several bolts of lightning impacting the ground, followed by what sounded like someone being kicked in the nads while screaming.

I've been told I'm great at describing things.

"Perhaps it'd be best if I shan't spread these around till a later date." Frederick eventually relented, taking the nude poster that I had back, studiously ignoring the high-pitched scream.

"Please… and don't give it to guys either. Or at least me, I don't want to see his junk, I'm very much into women than you."

"Duly noted…" Frederick turned away and took a few steps before stopping. "Blanc?"

"Yes?"

"If you had a suggestion of where it'd be best to spread these for recruitment, where would you think it'd be best to post these?"

I shrugged. "I dunno, a town or a city maybe? It'd be counterproductive to post it in military encampments or barracks since the people there would already be in the army. So yeah, towns or cities."

"I see… thank you for your counsel," Frederick nodded and left.

I shook my head.

' _These people are really weird…'_

I shiver ran down my spine.

' _I feel like I've started something terrible.'_

* * *

It was sometime into the night, probably around seven or eight when someone knocked on my tent. How they've managed to knock on tents will forever surprise me considering mine was made of cloth and leathers.

"Come in," I shouted without taking my eyes off the vials of spirit mixture and propulsion lances in front of me.

"Uhm… hey Blanc?" A familiar voice spoke from the flap of my tent. Robin.

"How can I help you miss?" I responded once more without looking up, grabbing a pair of inscribing tools to slowly ease the mixture into the runic grooves already applied into the metal spear tip.

"I was wondering if I'd be able to sleep here for the night."

My hand slipped.

Thankfully nothing exploded in my face but that didn't stop my heart from pounding as if it'd actually exploded.

"I'm sorry, I think I must've heard that incorrectly," I turned around to look at her only to be taken aback. Robin was there in front of me but in regular sleeping clothes along with her usual clothes but she seemed mighty embarrassed about something.

"I was wondering if I could sleep in here for the night because… * _mumble mumble"_ she mumbled out the last part inaudibly.

I sighed. Today was too long of a day.

"Can you run that by me again?" I asked patiently (read: inwardly screaming my head off).

Robin rubbed her arms shyly, her more than ample bust shifting and swaying with it, noticeably visible in her linen nightclothes. "I may or may not have accidentally set half of the tents on fire."

You hear that thing breaking in the background? That was my sanity finally snapping with all the shit that's happened today. I let out a sigh, something I'd been doing all too much within the past couple of hours.

"Okay, rewind. You're going to need to give me a recap on what happened because if you think I'm going to let you sleep in _my_ tent when you just admitted to setting half the tents in camp on fire then you're dead wrong," I said.

"Could I at least come inside and sit down? It's a long story."

I let her do as she asked, the both of us sitting down on the floor of my tent, my worktable cleared away and the spirit mixture tucked away neat and tidy so nothing would go boom while it was unattended.

"Right," I said as Robin finished making herself comfortable. "You, explanation. Now."

If I wasn't as adept at reading faces as I was, I would've probably thought the flush from her neck to her cheeks was from going from the cold to my warm tent interior. Fortunately, it was easy to discern that she was in truth embarrassed about something.

I'm also not that adept at reading faces, I'm just knowledgeable enough to put two and two together.

"Where should I begin?"

"The start's usually a good place than anything," I retorted causing her to give me a stink eye.

"Okay then, so this started after we finished dinner. Everyone went to do their own thing and I decided to go take a bath in the bathing tent before heading in for the night."

' _Wonderful, I can already see where this is going.'_

"During my bath Chrom may have, um…" she paused, her blush going near atomic scarlet.

"He walked in on you, didn't he?"

Robin's wordless nod was my answer.

"Did you at least remember to put a sign up that the bathing tent was in use?"

Another nod.

"Okay then, continue."

Robin managed to get her flush under control with a deep breath. "After that, I may have, um… given chase. After Chrom…"

"I'm sensing a 'but' here."

"I may have been a bit heavy-handed with him," she ducked her head in embarrassment.

"Heavy-handed?-" I remembered the thunderbolts form while I was talking with Frederick, along with the high-pitched scream. "Robin… did you try to fry Chrom with your Thunder tome?"

Robin didn't respond, only ducking her head even further with an almost visible haze of heat from mortification.

I let out a groan. "Okay, aside from trying to kill your superior, what else happened? Why can't you just sleep in the same tent as Lissa or Sumia?"

"Well, when I chased after Chrom I may have missed… a lot… and burnt down half the tents including Sully's, Chrom's, Virion's and Vaike's," she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly causing her two friends to jiggle and sway beneath her nightclothes. I couldn't help but notice that her smallclothes weren't doing much to hide the fact she was cold slightly. "Lissa didn't exactly want me bunking with her since Chron's sleeping in her tent tonight, Sully's with Sumia and all the others are all bunking together."

I exhaled one long breath. I have two choices, well three actually. The first choice is kicking Robin out in the snow, not a great idea all things considered. Second choice is to force her into someone else's tent, also not a good idea. Finally, the third choice is to let her stay with me for the night. Also, not a great idea.

Choices, choices. Which lesser evil should I choose?

The first one means she could potentially die, and I'd like to think I'm not a cold-blooded murderer so that one is out of the options. The second choice means I'd have to talk to the others which I'm not too comfortable at the moment and they'd likely say no anyway since Robin did burn down their tents. The third choice means she bunks with me for the night.

The third choice I guess it is then.

"Fuck it fine," I relented, not that there was honestly much in the way of me stopping her. Technically she outranks me and in all honesty, I'm an arse, not an asshole. Big difference. I wasn't actually going to let a woman sleep outside in the snow.

I'm nice like that.

Robin's mood took a straight 180 as she flung herself at me. "Thank you, thank you!".

I found myself in the enviable position of having my airways cut off. 'Holy shit woman I can't breathe!' I tried getting her attention, gripping her waist (they're quite nice I'll admit) and pushing her off me, freeing myself from her bountiful chest as sweet, sweet air flooded my lungs.

"O-okay…" I sputtered and held up a hand. "One rule: never, ever do that again! I like breathing thank you very much, no matter how pleasurable suffocation via tits is."

Robin's face blazed scarlet as she hid in her cloak.

I'd like to have thought that all would be good and well once we went to sleep.

Waking up with her attached to my side like a limpet was not something that I'd call 'well and good'.

Having her breasts squashed against the side of my chest which while pleasurable also meant my whole right side felt like a mess of white noise.

' _My life was so easy before…'_

…

 _'Not really now that I think about it,'_ I amended.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Yay! The seventh chapter is done. Please read and review.**

 **As you've probably realised, this chapter is predominantly filler along with Blanc's view on the Support conversations. The most prevalent ones were Frederick and Chrom Support convo (prior to it at least which he managed to prevent... for now) and the F!Robin and Chrom Support Convo. I think most support conversations chapters will either have their own chapter or be melded somewhere into the main storyline. I'd suggest reading "Interviews with a Tactician" as this has the best integration of Support Conversations not the storyline I've read for FE:A. It's also fucking hilarious.**

 **Next chapter will be Donnel's chapter along with them finally arriving back at Ylisstol. Apologies for such a filler chapter but had a massive headache this week so couldn't really do much quality writing.**


	9. Chapter 9: The start of something great

**Two-Sided Awakening**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem nor anything belonging to them, that right belongs to Nintendo Systems. The only thing I own are my own original character/s and ideas I create for the story.**

 **Author's Note: Please read and review so I know what I should work on, if you're going to say things such as how it shouldn't be following canon, then just don't bother, I'm going to be ignoring those reviews from now on. Well, here we are with the ninth chapter of 'Two-Sided Awakening'.**

 **On a side note I've taken note that as I've begun writing my University studies have begun to decline, something I'm going to remedy immediately. From this chapter forth I will be taking two to three weeks to write each chapter, ensuring that while they are of good quality, I also don't end up neglecting my studies.**

 **For those wanting to know how Blanc's name is pronounced it not pronounced like "Blank" but like "Bl-ahn".**

* * *

(3rd Person POV)

"What's the hold-up Frederick?" Chrom asked as the caravans came to a stop atop a hill. It had been a couple of hours since they'd left Ferox, the snowstorm finally relenting after harshly blowing through the country the days and nights before.

Frederick pointed to a billowing haze of smoke rising into the air, a sign of a fire burning strong.

"Fire, milord. Most likely a bandit attack on one of our villages," Frederick replied atop his mount, his blue armour glinting in the sun.

"What?!" Chrom shouted, "Wait are we waiting for? We need to get there and help them!"

"Aptly put milord, I'll go ahead to scout out what's happened," Frederick smiled and cracked his reins, his horse galloping with him atop heading towards the smoke leaving the others behind as he scouted ahead.

While he did that Chrom turned around and addressed the congregates Shepherds. "Okay, we've got another bandit problem on our hand most likely, so gear up!"

An assortment of confirmations rang through the group.

Robin who was already geared up with sword and tome moved over to Blanc who was in the middle of equipping an assortment of armour pieces, most of them seeming to be common pieces that could be bought anywhere.

"No special armour or anything?" she asked as he finished strapping on a pair of standard-issue greaves, his gauntlets and chest-piece already in place.

"Haven't had a need for any," Blanc shook his head.

"Weapons?"

Blanc didn't say anything but merely hefted a steel spear in his right hand, and made a motion with his free hand to the grooved lances strapped to the small of his back.

Robin nodded in satisfaction but made a note to ask him what the grooves were for.

Chrom got the group back together and headed off towards the smoke after Frederick, all of the Shepherds in tow, the caravans parked away to the side and tied down.

* * *

When the Shepherds finally caught up with Frederick they found him consoling and trying to placatingly calm down a gibbering young boy with a tin pot on his head, wearing it like a helmet.

"Boy, you need to calm down! You aren't making sense."

Remember this is Frederick we're talking about here, the same man who only smiles when he brings an axe down on someone's head. Note: Frederick uses a spear, so that should give you some indication of how often he smiles.

"P-Please sire, y-you've gots to help us! I'm beggin' you good sir!" the boy practically gibbered as the rest of the Shepherds approached.

Just as Frederick was about to say something, Chrom intervened and took over. "Slow down. What's happened?"

"B-Bandits!" the boy sputtered out, his hands shaking, "It was one o' our days like how it' always be, then stinkin' bandits attacked the lot of us. One of 'em gave chase when I tried to get help, the rest o' 'em began to round up the others back in the village."

To give proof to his words a nearby brush of undergrowth shook, a brigand popping out and his eyes locked onto the young pothead boy. "Aha! There's the wee stray little piggie! C'mere boy!"

Chrom groaned as the rest of shepherds readied hefted their weapons causing the bandits to take notice of who the boy was in company with.

The bandit laughed as he gave Chrom a once over. "Now what'd be this? A little lordling came to watch over his chattle? Ha ha-" his eyes drifted to Chrom's exposed shoulder, "Aw, fuck me! Sh-Shepherds!"

With nary a thought, the brigand upped and ran back into the undergrowth.

With the trouble out of the way, Chrom turned back to the boy who seemed to be even more shaken than before.

"You all right lad?"

"Y-Yes, milord!"

"Maybe it'd be best if we hold off on the titles, er… what's your name?" Chrom asked.

"Donny, sir!" Donny saluted, his face suddenly scrunching up, "I mean, name's Donnel. I live in the village just over there, your majestyful," he pointed to a village that was visible down below, bandits rounding up the last of the townspeople. The brigand that had run off had already somehow managed to make his way back down to the town down below.

"He's pretty fast for a bandit," Robin commented as they all looked as the man ran.

"He's one of the rare ones that don't immediately go attacking people left and right even if said people are armed to the teeth," Blanc replied quietly.

"I'm gonna need a recap, what happened here Donny?" Chrom questioned, keeping an eye out on the village.

"Like I's be saying, sir. Bandits have been attacking us for week now. I'm the only one of us that gots away after we made a runnin' for it, even then barely. They're roundin' up everyone in town to haul 'em off to a bandit camp… Please sir, you've gotta save them folks!" My ma's one of them, and she's all I've got in the world! Please!" Donnel pleaded, clinging Chrom by his shirt desperately.

Chrom gave a comforting smile in return, unclasped Donell's hand and placing his own gently on Donnel's shoulders in a comforting manner. "Don't worry Donny, we're the Shepherds. We'll save your ma, can you lead us down there?"

Donnel face glowed as a thankful smile broke upon his face. "Thank you milord, thank you! Follow me!" Donnel dusted himself and made to move.

"Chrom! We've got a situation on our hands!" Robin shouted causing Chrom to look at her then down to the village below.

Down below a random bandit was in the middle of hefting his axe above a woman in front of him, fully intent on killing her in front of the rest of the villagers. An example to be made of most-likely.

"Ma! No!" Donnel cried as he raced over next to Robin.

It was Donnel's mother.

The axe swung down.

* * *

In the village down below, a frightened out of his wits brigand returned to Roddick out of breath.

Roddick looked at the man as he caught his breath. "Well? What happened? You kill all of the villagers that made a dash for it?"

The bandit shook his head. "'Fraid not, one of them made it out," he gasped out.

"The fuck you mean?!" Roddick growled, grabbing the scruff of his collar and drawing him face-to-face. "It can't have been that hard to butcher one more of them! They're bloody villagers!"

"S-Sir, the Shepherds were with the boy! The Shepherds! They're going to be coming after us soon!"

"Fuck me," Roddick snarled letting go of the man, "And you're sure that it's them?"

The bandit nodded. "Aye, on the grave of me sainted mother, I swear it's them. Chrom was there with his Shepherds, had the whole mark shindig on his shoulder to boot."

Roddick thought it over in his head. As much as it'd be troublesome to be caught by the likes of them, there was no denying that the lot of them would definitely catch a pretty piece of gold.

"Hehe change of plans boys!" Roddick yelled out to the rest of his gang who'd finished rounding up the remaining villagers. "Turns out the Shepherds are gonna be on there way soon enough! And when they come we'll be bringing them down with these villagers! Round 'em up! We're heading back to camp and getting ready!"

The bandits roared in agreement while the villagers could only shiver.

"We've got nothin' left for you lot to take! Please, just at least let out children go!" a woman pleaded, the same plea she'd been trying for the last twenty minutes.

"Bloody hell, quite yer bleatin' woman! It's bloody annoyin' it is!"

The bandit beside him looked at her. "Oi Roddick!"

"Hmm?"

"I think this cow's the mum of the brat that managed to make a break for it."

"Hmm…" Roddick leaned in close which in turn made the woman lean away, "I think I know this one… you're the wife of the guy that broke one of me ribs the last time were here aint'cha?"

The woman spat in his face, "And you killed him for it you monster! Butchered him you did, why I wish he'd done you in first…"

Roddick just let out a sigh.

*thwack*

A hand lashed out and backhanded the woman sending her reeling to the ground. "Small wonders the brat's got brass balls the size of melons rather than a brain if you're his mum. Guess we'll see for ourselves when we catch him eh?"

He got up and walked away.

"Who knows?" Roddick gave a sick grin over his shoulder, "Maybe we'll even make ya watch as we tear your boy open! Bwahaha!"

"N-No!" the woman gasped, "Please, he's just a boy!"

Roddick frowned.

"Tch… I've changed my mind."

The woman gave a relieved sigh.

"You won't be there to watch us do it. You won't be alive by the time we do."

She gasped. "Please, no!"

"By the gods, someone fucking shut her up!" Roddick snarled eliciting a man nearby to grin.

The man hefted his axe into the air. "With pleasure boss!"

The villagers edged as far away as they could from the woman as she shut her eyes tight. _'I'm sorry Donnel. Be safe… please.'_

"Hyaagh!" the bandit yelled bringing the axe down.

The villagers shut their eyes as the sickening sound of rended flesh became audible.

"Gu-urk…" a pained gasp made out along with the sound of someone choking on something.

"Huh?" Donnel's mother opened her eyes hesitantly.

There in front of her was the bandit, axe in hand.

And a wodden lance lodged into the left of his chest, blood stemming from it and streaming from the mouth as he gurgled upon it. With one more pained gasp and gurgle he went limp, his hand slackening as the axe fell embedded itself into the ground in front of her face.

"W-What?!" she shrieked and scrambled away from the impaled corpse.

"Shit, they're on to us!" Roddick cursed and scanned the area, "C'mon boys! Gather em up, we oughts to get outta here or we're meat!"

The bandits scrambled around the town.

* * *

Donnel could only watch in shock as the bandits scurried around the town, placing the villagers into wagons after they were tied up.

Placing his mother into a wagon.

His living, breathing mother.

"What?" Blanc asked as the Shepherds looked at him as he relaxed, stretching his shoulder from its outstretched place ahead of him. "You _just_ said we'd save his mother didn't you? It'd be pretty shitty of us if we just let her die wouldn't it?"

"H-How? But you- you ju-" Robin sputtered as she tried to make sense of what just happened.

In less than the span of three seconds Blanc had somehow managed to throw one of his lances and accurately hit the bandit before the axe beheaded Donnel's mother.

In the span of three seconds, he managed to throw a lance the distance of a kilometre. Grabbing the lance, aiming, and throwing it within less than a split second and the lance itself traveling the length between the Shepherds and the village in less than two seconds.

Robin's brain rebooted. "You just hit that man in the chest with a lance from over hundreds of metres away in less than five seconds!"

"I'd say maybe four seconds," Blanc replied, "And I was aiming for his head. I missed."

Robin shook, "That's not the point! How'd you do it?!"

"Easy Robin," Chrom stepped in and grasped Robin's hands from there place clutching Blanc's collar that she'd somehow managed to grasp. "Those the same lances that almost killed me at the Longfort?" Chrom asked as he looked at the suspiciously familiar lance strapped to their newest recruits back.

"Guilty as charged, only these ones are much better," he hefted the remaining lance before strapping it back. "The ones back at the Longfort were only prototypes."

Chrom just stared while Robin was still trying to wrap his head around the fact he'd somehow managed to kill a man farther than the distance of a bow and arrow.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"I don't have a bad side, I always look fantastic," Blanc simply grinned.

Chrom looked the man up and down, specifically to his mish-mash of common armour pieces. "You and me both have different definitions of fantastic," he chuckled.

"Ahem." A cough broke the two from their banter.

It was Frederick. "Perhaps it'd be best if we actually pursue the bandits before they escape our grasp? We can ponder the mysteries of Blanc after we're done and dusted mayhaps?"

Chrom nodded as they headed off.

* * *

The Shepherds found themselves just outside the perimeter of the bandit's encampment thanks to the help of Donnel. "This here's where they've been taking up camp, Your Lordshipness."

Chrom couldn't help but sweatdrop. "Er… right, yeah. Thanks for your help Donny. Stay close, now."

"Beg pardon, sire?! You don't mean…?!" Donnel's jaw dropped in shock and worry. "B-But sir! I... I can't fight for me life, sir! I've never even stuck in a pig before!"

"Oh…sorry Donny, I'd just assumed… I mean…" Chrom stumbled on his words before giving up and letting out a heavy sigh, "Look forget about that, just stay here. You'll be fine."

Donnel nodded but his face seemed glum. "I wish I was as strongs as you sirs and madams. I'd teach those scum what it means to mess with my ma!"

"Then why don't you?" Robin asked curiously.

"Huh? But I ain't no warrior-"

"Just stop." Blanc joined the conversation and cut him off stiffly sending him into silence. "Look kid, no person is born a warrior. Not even the strongest of them. Sure, they may have been born into a family of warriors but at one point they were all as unsure and weak as you."

"Hey that's a bit of a stretch isn't it?" Robin cut in, a cross look being sent Blanc's way who ignored it.

"I didn't mean anything by it, I was just stating it as I saw."

"No… I think he's right all things considered," Chrom agreed. "A person who doesn't start can't become what they want to be. If Donny wants to fight then he needs to pick up the sword. Farm work makes for fine training – a sickle's not all that far from a sword, after all. Bandits may be tougher than wheat, but the principles the same."

Robin rounded on him. "Okay, now _you're_ making it a bit of a stretch. I may not remember much but even I know that wheat doesn't spurt blood nor are bandits used in bread."

"It was meant to be a comparison, Robin."

"It's a shoddy comparison and you know it."

"No it isn't- we're getting off track here. Donny," Chrom looked at the boy, "Are you willing to take up a sword and fight?"

"Ngh… *sniff*" Donny sniffled and wiped away some tears that'd formed from their words, some of them hit pretty close to home. "A-All right, milord. s you say, I'm no warrior. But these're my people, friends and family. I gots to what I can to make this right!"

"Nicely said," Blanc rumbled.

Chrom smiled at the boy and handed him a spare iron sword.

"Everyone in place?" he called out getting scattered affirmatives in return.

As everyone got ready Blanc moved to Donnel. "Take this kid," he gave his last remaining lance to the boy as he gently grasped it and held it gingerly in his hands.

"Are you sure sir? You saved my ma' with one of these- I never got to thank you 'bout that either!"

"Don't worry bout it kid, a special lance ain't worth the life of a mother. Besides I can always go back later and fetch it once we return to your village."

Donnel smiled thankfully at the white-haired man, looking at him in a new light. "Thank you, truly sir. I'll do my best to make right by you!"

Blanc shook his head. "Do your best to make right by _yourself_. Make right by your people first, till then stay by my side and do your best. Do what you can, that's all I ask. Now come… it's time we get this show on the road."

"Yessir!" Donnel saluted the lance against his pot cause his head to jostle around within said tin pot.

"Maybe you should keep that tied down till you need it."

* * *

Donnel looked on as the Shepherds began fighting, chewing on his bottom lip nervously. "Fight and get stronger, he says… Guess it can't hurt to try. I sure hope I don't get in the way! Gosh that's be awful…"

"Donnel!"

"Yessir!"

Blanc swiftly motioned for him to join him as he knocked a bandit on the side of the head with the shaft of his spear. "Take him out!"

Donnel nodded and took a deep breath, drawing his sword. With another breath he swung at the bandit, blood spurting from his wound as he stood there briefly before falling to the ground.

Donnel felt sick as he watched the blood ooze and drain into the soil beneath the man's corpse.

"Trust me kid it gets easier," a comforting hand landed on his shoulder, "It's hard taking a life each time but it does get easier. Killing them is the hard put, but every day it gets easier to handle it. Just make sure you don't enjoy it, there shouldn't be any joy in taking a life, only necessity."

Donnel nodded shakily, everything in him agreeing with the man.

"C'mon we still got more to get through if we want to save your village," Blanc said as he stood back up.

Donnel shakily got to his feet, realising he'd somehow fallen to his knees. He grabbed his sword which has fallen and picked it up.

Blanc moved onto the next pair of bandits and was seamlessly fending them off, fending them off and winning. Using both the butt and tip of his spear eh was twirling it around like a blurring disk, slicing and bashing away at the mean, cuts and bruises appearing on them.

With a swing, he took one out courtesy of his spear slicing through his chest and appearing out the other side. "Donnel you take out this one, he should be weak enough for you to take him on," he jerked his head to the second of the pair who'd already begun charging the boy.

"Gah!" Donnel screamed in fright as he raised his sword, sparks flying as their blades locked.

"Imma gut ya for what'cha did, bringing these sheep-shaggers 'ere!" The bandit screamed almost incoherently.

Donnel almost pissed himself.

Shaking his head, he twisted his sword, the flat of his blade catching the edge of the bandit's own causing it to slid off. Unfortunately, as lucky as Donnel was, the blade found it's way with a thrust scraping against Donnel's ribs, blood slowly stemming from the cut.

"Urk," Donnel whimpered as the cut bled but still held enough of a mind to continue to futilely bat away the bandit's sword and run.

"Get back here boy! I said I was gonna be guttin' you not makin' ya bleed!"

Donnel kept running as the bandit gave chase.

 _A person who doesn't start can't become what they want to be_.

Donnel stopped in the woods, far from the bandit's camp.

Far from the Shepherds alone. White-knuckles popped as they gripped the sword. Memories of his mother almost having her head cut off launched through his brain, himself being helpless to do anything but watch as it happened.

' _I could've stopped it…. no… I was too scared to move.'_

"Has the wee little piggy stopped moving? Haha fine, come to the slaughter then!"

It was only now that Donnel realised that the bandit he'd been fighting was the same one that had chased him out of the village. The same one that butchered all of the villagers that'd tried to escape leaving all but him.

A firm grip held his sword.

The bandit jumped and swung his sword.

Donnel raised his own, a firm determination welling in him.

Their blades locked once more sending a shower of sparks everywhere, with a heave the bandit rose his blade and struck once more just as Donnel did the same, repeating over and over. Sparks of light and the sound of blades locking and clashing resounded through the forest.

"Hahaha!" the bandit cackled as he stepped back a bit. Donnel couldn't help but breathe heavily, the sudden exertion like this being beyond his normal capabilities. "It seems the piggy's not so much a piggy but a boar instead! Putting up a good fight you are for a bumpkin!" the bandit chuckled and rose his sword.

"You should join us kid! Ain't every day we find someone like you aftah all!"

Donnel was close to snarling but most of his body was sore, the blood on his side making him feel slick. Instead he opted to do something else.

He reached up and chucked his tin pot at the man knocking him back slightly.

"Gah! The fuck!" the bandit knocked the pot to the side as it fell, "Fine then! Shoulda just killed you anyways!" he snarled and charged, blade swinging from the side.

Donnel's eyes widened as he stumbled trying to get up, stumbling into the bath of the blade trying to do his best to twist out of the way as he fell.

A sick grin overtook the bandit's features.

A loud noise of the sword coming into contact resounded as pain struck him.

It was strange though. It wasn't so much the pain of being sliced by a sword like the one across his rib but the feeling of having something really solid chucked at you.

Donnel opened his eyes.

The bandit was struggling to move, his sword stuck to Donnel's side.

Looking down Donnel's eyes widened in surprise. The sword was lodged into the wooden spear he'd been given.

Donnel looked at the bandit.

The bandit looked back at him.

Donnel continued looking at the bandit.

The bandit gasped as a sword sunk through his chest. Looking at the sword in his chest he followed it to the hand that was holding it.

Donnel watched at the bandit stumbled and fell. A feeling of satisfaction welled in him as he watched the murderer of many of his people finally die.

 _There shouldn't be any joy in taking a life, only necessity._

Suddenly Donnel merely felt empty.

Looking at the man he couldn't feel any feeling of satisfaction in looking at him. All he felt now was disappointment.

Disappointment in himself.

Grabbing the sword, he yanked it out of the man's chest with a spurt of blood, he looked at its gleaming crimson blade.

He looked back at the corpse.

The sword came down with a thunk.

Grabbing the sword still lodged into the spear to his side he yanked it out and brought I down with a thunk as well.

He looked at the corpse.

Just behind the head of the corpse were the two blades crossed in an x-formation. "I don't feel any guilt for killin' yah… I don't feel any satisfaction," Donnel spoke to the to the cooling corpse, a strange feeling of melancholy overcoming him.

"I just feel sick."

Donnel gave one last look at the man.

"I just did wha' was necessary… I didn' enjoy it…." Donnel muttered, "I didn'," he muttered more to himself.

Brown-eyes looked on from a slight distance as they watched Donnel give the man his final respects, as undeserved as he was.

"He grows quick…" Blanc muttered as Donnel kicked some dirt over the body leaving the embedded swords to be visible and picked up his discarded pot, placing it back on his head, its dented form visible for all to see.

Moving swiftly, he caught up to Donnel, surprising the boy.

"When didja get here sir?!" Donnel shrieked before wincing

"I followed you after we finished up," Blanc responded as he handed the boy a vulnerary, pointedly motioning for him to drink.

"Wait y'all have finished up? How' is everybody? Is my ma all right?" Donnel asked while gratefully drinking the vulnerary.

"Your mother is fine, Donnel. A bit shaken up, but fine nonetheless. She's worried about you though," Blanc admitted.

"I see."

Blanc looked at the boy, the despondent look in his voice and on his face evidence to what he was feeling.

"Kid."

Donnel looked up at him.

"Good job… you didn't let yourself enjoy killing him."

Donnel grimaced the thoughts that he'd been thinking after he'd killed the man resurfacing. "I did feel good though sir, I felt real good. Buh then I remembered what yeh said then I just felt sick."

Blanc gave a comforting smile. "That's why I'm saying congratulations. Not even an hour ago you were saying how you'd have killed all of them single-handedly, you said it so vehemently. In that time, you've grown."

Donnel smiled at him, a small weight easing from his shoulders.

"Does it really get easier?"

"Every time you do it, it's hard, but it does get easier. It still doesn't mean you won't regret it."

"What do I do then?"

"You weigh them against the lives of your people. Your friends… or bandits. Innocents or the deserving, the sword is in your hands," Blanc replied quietly.

"I see…"

"Come on," Blanc motioned for them to hurry, "I'm pretty sure you want to see your mother, don't you? They should be have brought them back to your village by now or are on their way."

Donnel's smile was his answer.

* * *

The Shepherds congregated in the centre of the town.

"You sure we got all the bandits?" Chrom asked.

"From what I've been told this should be all of them, but Sully said she saw one run past the tree-sides," Robin reported as she looked over the villagers, Lissa going around healing the wounded, the ones with scrapes and cuts from being handled roughly.

Chrom looked around.

"Has anyone seen Blanc? Actually, has anyone seen Donnel for that matter?" Chrom asked as he noticed the two were missing. "Blanc was with Lissa and Robin earlier but he seems to have disappeared.

"What?" one of the women screamed, Donnel's mother, "Mah boys missin'? Where is he?"

Lissa and Robin worked on calming the panicking woman while Chrom and the others worked on looking for the two.

"What's with all the ruckus?" a voice called out.

Everyone looked to find Blanc and Donnel walking, Donnel missing his sword and a large gouge in his shirt.

"Oh Donny! I'm so glad you're safe!" his mother rushed up to him and wrapped him in a hefty hug, her sobs audible as she held him tight. "I was worried near to death, boy!" she held him a bit tighter before relinquishing her hold on him.

"I can't thank you for savin' my son and our village milord," Donnel's mother bowed down to Chrom much to his chagrin, trying to drag a slightly confused Donnel down with her as she did so. "Donny! Where are your manners?! Take a knee and thank His Lordness."

"No, don't worry Donny," Chrom cut in before he could do so causing the boy's mother to look up at him in bewilderment. "Ma'am, your son led the charge, directed us where to find you, and last of all took up the sword for his village," Chrom informed her while directing a proud look to the young boy, "We merely picked off the stragglers."

"Keep your village safe and hone your potential Donny, you'll be the one protecting your town," Chrom said while sheathing his sword. The Shepherds followed suit and pivoted.

"W-Wait!" Donnel yelled, "Please wait!"

"Hmm?" Chrom hummed as they all turned around, "Is something wrong?"

"I-I have a request, if it pleases Your Gracefulness?" Donnel stammered out with a pleading look which Chrom acquiesced.

"Take me with you, milord!" Donnel shouted, "Lemme be a Shepherd like you! I'm good with livestock, I am! Please, sire!"

"Can I please be the one to break it to him that we don't tend to sheep?" Robin whispered to Lissa causing her to giggle, "Please… I wanna be the one to break it to him since you guys did it to me…"

"Hush now, you fool boy!" Donnel's mother chastised her son.

Donnel shook his head. "I want to hone my potan- potenti- whatever he said. I want to keep this place safe! I never thought I was good for nothin' more the shovelin' dirt… but sir showed me there's more I can do. More that I needs to be doing!" Donnel pleaded to Chrom.

"He has the potential to be something special Chrom," Blanc advised quietly, defending the young man as he was berated by his mother, "With a bit of polish he could be great. He managed to fight off a bandit by himself while finishing off one with my assistance."

"I don't know," Chrom spoke unsurely.

"Okay let me put it this way," Blanc offered, "If he doesn't join the Shepherd, I'm taking him with me to join the Ferox alliance and training him as my protégé."

Chrom shot a surprised glance at the man, almost tripping at his words. "T-Truly? He's that good?"

Blanc shook his head. "He's no good right now, merely normal. But in time I think he could be the greatest."

Chrom locked eyes with Blanc, their conversation garnering Robin's interest in the process. With a sigh Chrom relented. "Very well, I'll allow him to join the Shepherds."

"Thank you Chrom," Blanc nodded gratefully, "You won't regret it, however, you may want to stop his mother from tearing into him any more than she already has."

Chrom looked over and saw what he'd said was indeed true. Donnel's mother seemed to be quite irate. "You needs be knowin' your place, boy! A farmhand's no fit for a royal-"

Chrom decided it'd be best if he intervened judging by Donnel's shamed face. "Actually, we'd be thrilled to have him. The Shepherds need every good man we can find, and I've been told your son fought bravely."

A lance of fear shot through the eyes of Donnel's mother as she looked at both Donnel and Chrom unsurely, her eyes drifting between the two. "I'm not sure Your Lordshipness. You're very kind to say as much, but…" she trailed off as she looked into Donnel's eyes.

To her, something changed in the boy, something awoke in him, a fire lit inside that seemed to drive him. To her, it was the same flame her husband had in his own eyes when he was younger. I was like seeing the remnant of a ghost, her husband passing on the torch to Donnel.

With a heavy and weary sigh, she spoke, "Very well… you're a grown man now, Donny. I s'pose you should be allowed to make up your own choices."

Donnel's eyes softened at that. "Ma…"

"…You just come home safe, you hear? I'll see to it that the village is still standin' proud 'n tall when you return a hero," she said with a watery smile. "…Well? Off with you then! Glory's waitin' for ya, boy!"

Donnel smiled ruefully but shook his head. "I ain't fightin' for glory or anythin' like that, Ma. I'm fightin' for you, and I'm fightin' for myself. If I do find me some glory though, I'll make sure to bring some home for you!"

His mother smiled a true smile, the tear streaks upon her face replaced with a crinkled smile. "…Just come home alive, Donnel."

"Don't worry Ma… I will," the two embraced with smiles and tears.

…

…

…

"I can't do it…" Robin quietly whispered with teary eyes, the emotional moment getting to her, "I can't do it… I don't want to ruin the moment…"

Lissa comforted her with tears in her own eyes, "There there… you can do it when he asks you later…"

Robin nodded with a watery grin as Donnel moved away from his mother and re-joined with the Shepherds.

Chrom smiled at the boy.

"Come on Donnel, I think it's time you meet the rest of the Shepherds. You'll be coming with us to Ylisstol as well."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** **Yay! Ninth chapter is done. Please read and review.**

 **This once was originally meant to be them going to Ylisstol but then I remembered Donnel. Considering he was legit my best unit alongside Gerome, I definitely had to write my take on Donnel's origin story.**

 **Side-note: Donnel's speech pattern is a fucking nightmare to write.**


	10. Chapter 10: Nations united and torn

**Two-Sided Awakening**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem nor anything belonging to them, that right belongs to Nintendo Systems. The only thing I own are my own original character/s and ideas I create for the story.**

 **Author's Note: Please read and review so I know what I should work on, if you're going to say things such as how it shouldn't be following canon, then just don't bother, I'm going to be ignoring those reviews from now on. Well here we are with the tenth chapter of 'Two-Sided Awakening'.**

 **For those wanting to know how Blanc's name is pronounced it not pronounced like "Blank" but like "Bl-ahn".**

* * *

 **(Blanc's POV)**

I looked around the barracks as Robin showed us around, Lon'qu and Donnel trailing behind Robin and I quietly.

"Is it really okay to have you showing us around?" I wondered curiously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Robin frowned.

"Well, I mean… it's just that aside from Lon'qu, Donnel and I, you're the newest recruit and I heard you've only stayed here for one night before you had to go to Ferox." I explained placatingly, "I just figured that someone more experienced would be leading us."

Somewhere behind me, Lon'qu and Donnel were quietly chatting about swords and fighting styles, Donnel seeing Lon'qu something as an equal considering they both joined at almost the same time.

"What type 'o sword do you use?"

"A killing edge."

"But don't all swords have a killing edge?"

"'Killing Edge' is the proper name of the sword I use."

"Oh…"

"…"

"Can you teach me how to use a sword properly? I hear you're mean' to be a really good swordsman an' all that."

"…"

"Uh… if ya-"

"…Very well. You'll be joining me this evening for training."

Donnel stopped for a second as he processed what Lon'qu was saying before a grin broke on his face, albeit with slight hesitation.

"This evenin'?! But it's already almost dark!"

"You either join me or you don't… it's your choice.

"Darn… I guess I gotta join you then ain' I?"

"Whatever suits you."

"They seem to be getting along swimmingly…" Robin commented as she watched the two almost craning her neck like a swan much to my amusement as she watched the two converse.

"First I've seen Lon'qu talk so much since he joined," I noted as my eyes drifted over the Chon'sinian man. For such an intrepid swordsman, he was quite the quiet individual, disconcertingly quiet if I was to be honest. "He usually talks in either grunts or a few short words."

"Yeah…" Robin agreed, "Back on topic, however. Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick are currently informing Lady Emmeryn about the alliance between Ferox and Ylisse. Sully and Stahl are busy training, Miriel is somewhere, Sumia is out flower-picking, Virion is out chasing skirts, and Vaike is Vaike." She finished with a huff, "As such I'm probably the best one to lead you all around."

I looked at her in confusion. "I don't understand what you mean by 'Vaike is Vaike'?"

"Vaike's tolerable in short bursts otherwise you feel either like a genius or your brain is slowly killing itself."

"So don't go near Vaike… noted. Also shouldn't Lon'qu and I be meeting the Exalt with Prince since we're he the representatives of our khans?"

Robin shrugged helplessly, "Don't ask me I'm just the tactician, I'm not in the know with the whole royal family and whatnot and how they work. If I had to hazard a guess though, you'd probably be meeting with the Exalt later in the day or even tomorrow."

I conceded at that, slightly puzzled considering that Chrom seemed to hold Robin in high enough regard to tell her such things. "That does seem most likely."

She gave a nod as we ascended the stairs and came to a stop in front of a door.

"Right, so this one's your room," she announced as she opened the door.

Looking around I couldn't help but notice how spacious it was for a soldier's barracks, and surprisingly well-furnished as well to be honest.

"This is a garrison correct?" I asked, "I'm surprised that everyone gets their own room and board. Actually, I'm surprised that you Shepherds can afford a building such as this considering how luxurious it is."

"Yeah, I was told Maribelle donated the building for the Shepherds use. Everything in here is from her family I think, at least that's what Miriel mentioned," Robin threw out in the air.

"Maribelle?" I asked the name not all that familiar to me.

"Ah! I forgot you haven't met her, she a Shepherd. I think she the daughter of a duke?" Robin amended hastily.

"I see…"

"Well… I'm going to show Donnel and Lon'qu to their rooms. Let me know if you'll be needing anything!" Robin piped up.

I should probably check and see where I can work on all my stuff I decided as my first thought of order.

"Would you happen to know where I can set up my workshop? Along with the directions for the Library?" I asked casually before one more popped up. "…And possibly the directions for your room in the case I need to find you for anything in the next few hours?"

"The library is down the hallway to the left, my room on the other hand… well, let's just say it's close by," she smiled coyly.

I gave her a deadpan look. "I'll make sure to scream out to the heavens your name in the case I get lost or heavens forbid decide to blow something up."

"You're kidding with that last one, right?"

"…Whatever I work with has a large tendency to explode spectacularly. Do what you will with that information." I said blandly.

"You're a killjoy you know, can't even play along," she complained cutely, "Anyways my room is literally one room to the right. For your workshop though? No clue, you're probably better off asking Miriel."

I gave her another look. "Where exactly would I be finding her then?"

She shrugged. "I dunno, I'm still getting used to everything like you. Remember, I've only been in this place for like a day."

"Very well," I gave a weary sigh. I shall go search for her. Now shoo, I need to go and unpack my stuff," I made shooing motions, ushering her out from the doorway.

"Yeah, yeah I'll see you later," she rolled her eyes and moved onwards, Donnel and Lon'qu following behind her.

I could hear through the open door that they were placed to the right of my own room meaning her room was to my left.

With a shrug I began unpacking my clothes, the few that I'd bothered to bring with me along with my tent, blanket and pillow, stashing them away in the bottom of the wardrobe.

"Huh…" I let out as I looked over my tent.

Something to know about my tent was that it was specially made for Feroxi weather meaning that it was made of thick hides to keep out the cold at night. Something that most likely wouldn't work too well in Ylisse's warmer weather.

"I'll need to go buy a tent while I'm here in case we end up setting off," I muttered as I made a mental note. Closing the wardrobe quietly I began folding the clothes into drawers leaving my etching equipment, bundles of weapons, stationery, journal, and around twenty jars of spirit dust on my desk.

I dusted my hands as I looked over everything, ensuring everything that wasn't in their proper place now had a home. "I should go find Miriel and see if I can acquire a workshop."

* * *

 **(3rd Person POV – Castle Ylisse)**

"Welcome back once more Chrom, Lissa," Emmeryn smiled gently embracing the two in her arms as they arrived with Frederick at their side.

"It's nice to be back," Chrom smiled in return.

"Yeah, it's so cold up in Ferox!" Lissa complained causing Frederick to roll his eyes at his ward.

Emmeryn merely smiled once more, the aura of peace and comfort coming out. "I'm sure it was Lissa, I'm amazed you held out for so long," she tousled Lissa's hair causing the girl to pout, "Especially since you're so… *ahem* delicate," she teased.

"I am not delicate!" Lissa sulked, her hands shaking at her side in faux anger.

"Of course, Lissandra," Emmeryn sang. Soon she turned back to Chrom, a certain type of seriousness showing, the type that only showed in important situations or events, "And how were the negotiations with Ferox?"

Chrom grimaced, the remembrance of their initial meeting leaving a bad memory, being almost impaled would do that to you.

Emmeryn wasn't one that would fail to notice something wrong with her brother.

"Chrom," Emmeryn asked calmly, "What happened in Ferox?" her tone brokered no arguing.

"N-Nothing too bad! I swear! There was just a small altercation initially but it's all well and good now! We've got their support for the alliance!" Chrom frantically waved his hands.

Let it be said the Emmeryn while kind, was also the leader of Ylisse. That being said, Emmeryn is _scary_ when she's angry. She turned her attention to Fredrick, "What does my brother mean by altercation, Sir Frederick?"

"We had a fight with the border guard, my lady. They did not believe us when we said we were sent by you, as such they fought with the intent to kill. Milord would've been killed had it not been for the timely intervention of Lady Sumia," came Frederick's brisk and succinct reply.

"And pray tell, why exactly was their first response to attack my brother?" Emmeryn asked, a steel forming underneath her soft exterior.

"They've been constantly attacked by bandits and brigands imposing as Ylissean soldiers."

Chrom was the one that replied.

Emmeryn's eyes widened in shock. The fact scaring her considering that Ylisse may have very well been embroiled in the midst of a three-sided war with themselves in the middle.

"It also hadn't been the first time that someone had tried to impersonate our family either. Suffice to say they weren't exactly liable to trust us at the time."

The Exalt closed her eyes and deep breathe to calm herself, she opened her eyes and addressed her brother.

"Tell me everything."

Chrom told her everything while Lissa and Frederick either confirmed or corrected him.

* * *

(A couple days later)

"Hey, Robin!"

Robin looked up in confusion from her studies with Miriel, the woman teaching her the different types of magics along with Ricken, the younger Shepherd who'd been left behind while they travelled to Ferox. She found Chrom calling out to her from a nearby window showing the training yard, Sully and Stahl training together as they usually would behind him. "Yes Chrom?" she asked.

Chrom poked his head through the open window, "Have you happened to see Blanc and Lon'qu today? I need to bring them to Emm. I can't seem to find them."

"Lon'qu should be upstairs in his room or training somewhere, as for Blanc I'm not too sure- give me a moment," Robin paused and turned to Miriel.

"Hey, Miriel have you seen Blanc today? Chrom's looking for him."

Miriel barely looked up from her tome as she answered, Ricken beside her writing something or the other in his own personalized tome. "I can hear Chrom just fine Robin, we're but three feet away. Alas, I've yet to see the inventor today, perhaps he is to be in his workshop or in his room? If not, you may find him somewhere near the river, I believe he was talking about finding a water source."

"A water sour-? You know what, nevermind. I feel like it'd give me a headache." Robin shook her head. "Chrom!" she shouted back out the window, "Blanc's either in his room, his workshop or somewhere by the river!"

"Thanks!" Chrom shouted back into the garrison and walked off.

"Now where exactly is his workshop?" Chrom scratched his head.

* * *

It would be another half hour before Chrom found their wayward creator with Lissa and Lon'qu in tow, Lon'qu being the easier of the two forgieners to find but also being the more quiet of the two. Lissa was having quite the time trying to break through Lon'qu's gruff shell.

Chrom ignored them in favor of addressing the dirt-stained man beneath him.

"What in Naga's name are you doing?"

Blanc looked up at him with a shovel in his hand and a miles-long trench following from behind him. The same trench Chrom decided to follow when he saw it coming from the garrison and leading off into the distance.

The same trench that Blanc was waist-deep in with dirt caking his face and staining his presumably priorly white shirt a dusty brown.

Blanc looked at Chrom.

Chrom looked at Blanc.

Chrom looked at the shovel.

Blanc looked at the shovel

Blanc looked back up to Chrom.

Chrom looked back down at Blanc.

"Prince," Blanc greeted. "This is exactly what it looks like."

Chrom opted to stare at him before responding as Lon'qu studiously caught up with him with Lissa badgering the brown-haired man with a multitude of nonsensical questions. "I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be looking at. I don't know what I've been looking at for the last mile or so we've been following this damned trench of yours." Chrom stated as he looked at the snowy-haired man.

"Oh…"

Blanc's face broke into a dirt-covered grin.

"Well then, I suppose there's no need for you to be notified about it then," he said with a smile as he hopped out and dusted off his pants.

"Nononono," Chrom shook his head with a wry grin, "I think this is right about where I'm going to need to know what the hell you're doing. Considering it's you I think it'd be best we know."

"Eh, just inlaying a pipeline to the garrison so I can create a shower, not exactly much of a fan of baths." Blanc shrugged.

Chrom gave him a long look. "I understood most of the words you said."

"Easy way to clean yourself without having to draw up a bath," Blanc simplified.

Chrom stood there for a second before slowly nodding. "Suuure… and you managed to get this much done in how long?"

"About an hour."

Chrom rose an eyebrow at that. Digging a mile-long trench within an hour sounded almost impossible. Something which he voiced skeptically.

"Well digging through fertile soil is hell of a lot easier than digging through frozen packed dirt, something of which I'm more used to," Blanc explained while wiping the grime off his face. "That aside, what's up? I'm assuming there's something you need considering you got Princess and Surly behind you."

It took Chrom a second to realize he was talking about Lissa and Lon'qu, and another second for him to respond. "My sister wanted to talk to you about the alliance between Ferox and Ylisse."

"Go ahead then Princess."

…

Lissa looked at him strangely while Lon'qu rubbed his face and muttered quietly about white-haired idiots.

"Blanc," Chrom let out gently, "I meant my other sister, Emmeryn. …You know, the Exalt?"

"Ooooh," Blanc's visage became one of slow realization, "Sorry… my head's a bit cooked to be honest from working out in the sun now that I think about it," Blanc apologized. "When did you want me to meet her?"

"Well, we were meant to have told you around twenty minutes ago, so in about forty minutes."

"Right, well I'll draw up a quick bath and change my clothes then," Blanc gave a wave and walked off to the garrison.

Chrom, Lissa, and Lon'qu stared at him as he walked away from the trio.

"Did you really need me to walk this whole way just for that?" Lissa asked her brother curiously. Lon'qu's silent stare asked the same

Chrom sighed, he felt stupid for bringing the two for literally no purpose. They hadn't even talked to the man for Naga's sake!

"…Not really now that I think about it."

* * *

 **(Blanc's POV)**

I am a man of many things.

A man of great intelligence ( _debatable_ ).

A man of great courage ( _once more, debatable; also depends on the circumstance_ )

I am NOT, however, a man that regularly talks to lords or ladies. Nor am I regularly accustomed to dealing with Royal families nor leaders of entire countries, Flavia withstanding considering, well it's Flavia we'r talking about here.

' _Dammit Flavia… I'm really starting regret agreeing to your stupid decision,'_ I mentally griped as Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick led both Lon'qu and myself through Castle Ylisse.

Let me fucking tell you, walking through a hallway lined with heavy armors and antique paintings along with being gilded in gold sure as hell wasn't calming my nerves. It doesn't matter if my face felt like solid stone, my heart rate was escalating to the point I felt like I could pass out any moment.

Did I mention I have stage fright? I didn't? Well, I definitely do, and meeting with the Exalt isn't doing me any favors.

"I'm surprised you're not nervous," Chrom said absentmindedly as we approached a large pair of double doors.

"My heart feels like it's going to beat out of my ribcage Prince," I responded, my heartbeat quickening as we stopped in front of the door.

"You have a remarkably calm disposition for someone in your place," Frederick remarked.

I didn't deign to bother with a reply.

"You ready?" Chrom asked Lon'qu and I.

" _*grunt*_ "

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Guess which one of us said what.

Chrom opened the door.

I came face-to-face with the most breath-taking throne room I'd ever seen.

' _Holy fucking shit…'_ I looked around the chamber. If I thought the hallway was lined with everything that screamed 'royalty', I was very wrong. Royal blue banners with the Ylissean coat of arms lined the pillars leading to the throne with polished marble making up the floors, pillars, and ceiling of the throne-room coated and etched with golden accents.

An elbow to the ribs broke me out of my reverie. "You'd better pay attention, we're almost there," Lon'qu growled quietly.

I nodded and looked straight.

I could certainly understand why the Exalt was revered as she was I thought as I looked at her. For such a regal woman, she exuded an aura of peace, calm, and contentment. It was like an angel had come down from heaven in the form of a mortal, like she'd forgive you no matter what you did. The Exalt was a woman unlike any other. In the good type of way, she was akin to an angel someone wouldn't want to taint lest she falls. A pure soul none would want to touch lest she disappears from the world.

She was something… otherworldly.

"Want me to do the talking?" I asked Lon'qu quietly.

"…Please."

I bobbed at Lon'qu's confirmation as we completed approaching and knelt at the bottom of the throne. The Exalt watched us along with her most likely her personal guard, a woman with silvery-blue hair, red-eyes and a beauty mark under her eye.

Chrom, Lissa and Frederick walked forward, Frederick kneeling a bit ahead of us while the two walked up the steps.

"Chrom, Lissa it's lovely to see the both of you as always," the Exalt smiled.

"You too Emm," Chrom replied while Lissa gave her sister a small hug before stepping back.

"Would I be correct to assume that these two men before me are the representatives for Ferox like you said?" the Exalt asked her brother.

"Indeed."

"Please stand. It wouldn't be right for the representatives of a nation we asked for an alliance from to bow their heads," the Exalt spoke causing the both of us to look up and stand.

"That's better…" she smiled. "What are your names?"

' _Showtime…'_

"My name is Blanc… I'm the main representative for the Head-Khan Regnant Flavia."

"Lon'qu, the representative for West-Khan Basilio."

"It's wonderful to have the both of you. Would the both of you be willing to discuss the terms of the alliance?" she asked calmly.

"Of course, your Exaltedne-"

"Please," she held out a hand stopping me. "Call me Emmeryn… I believe trust would go a long way between out nations.

That's… a surprise…

"Uh- I mean, very well Lady Emmeryn," I said causing her to sigh. "What terms exactly would you like to discuss?"

She looked at me intently, her blue eyes looking into my own. "What terms are being offered?"

That threw me off guard admittedly for the sole fact there was really only one term for the alliance.

If Chrom or I won in Arena Ferox, Flavia would agree to ally with and protect Ylisse.

That was it.

"Um, milady? The only term was for Chrom to win in the tournament for the current Head-khan. This term has been satisfied, as such, there aren't any terms for the alliance as the sole term has been fulfilled in full," I explained to her eliciting an expression of surprise.

"That's… it?" she probed curiously, "Nothing else?"

"Yes, Lady Emmeryn."

Silence resounded through the throne-room.

"….s _nkrt!"_

I think I could say for many that they were surprised to watch Emmeryn cover her mouth and giggle.

As I watched her struggle to control her laughter, I could truly say I've seen an angel laugh.

"M-My apologies for my lack of decorum," Emmeryn apologized as she smothered her giggles. "I've merely forgotten how novel it is to talk about politics without the need to search for honeyed words."

I'll admit I was pretty confused with what she meant by that.

Then it clicked.

Just as Ylisse and Feroxi are as different as morning and noon, our politics are most likely the same. Whereas Feroxi politics involve fights and conditional promises, Ylissean politics most likely involve honeyed lies and buried truths.

Two stark differences.

Of course, I wasn't entirely sure about the Ylissean politics and honeyed lies and whatnot, merely an educated guess on my part that may not be entirely true.

"Not to worry Lady Emmeryn, decorum isn't that highly regarded with us. Merely speak your honest truth and things will run much more smoothly. Dancing around the subject won't help either of our nations."

She smiled but shook her head. "Perhaps it'd be best if I don't speak my mind. It may not end well…"

Well that just completely backfired.

"Um…" I began.

"However, I will speak honestly," she finished.

"Oh…" I had to step back a bit in surprise before gathering my wits about me, "That's wonderful to hear then."

"Many thanks, may we now put underway the specific conditions of our alliance?" Emmeryn questioned, "What Ferox are willing and aren't willing to assist us with."

I nodded.

"Also does your companion not have anything to say in these regards? He is also a fellow representative."

I could almost feel Lon'qu stiffen minutely to my side. I looked over at him to see him shake his head swiftly in return.

"I'm afraid not, milady." I apologized, "Lon'qu while a magnificent fighter and stalwart companion and representative, he is not the most suited to discuss our alliance."

The exalt leaned forward.

"Does he happen to have a personal issue with Ylisse?"

' _Oh shit, evasive maneuverers people!'_

"No no no!" I waved my hand assuring, "Lon'qu merely is… he's… um…"

I didn't know how to phrase it.

Thankfully someone else did.

Chrom spoke up in our defense, "Sister, Lon'qu had problems with women, sometimes even issues with talking to them."

' _Chrom, you magnificent dastard! I could kiss you! Not literally though,'_ I inwardly cheered for the blue-haired prince's intervention.

"Ahhh my apologies then," Emmeryn's eyes lit up with understanding before bowing her head slightly. "However, back to the matter at hand?"

"Indeed." I nodded.

"Ferox is willing and able to assist with the initial terms provided by Prince Chrom; the condition that during the upcoming war with Ylisse and Plegia, Ferox will do all in its power to protect the citizens of Ylisse from the war."

"Upcoming war?" the silvery blue-haired woman next to Emmeryn questioned. "You're so sure that it will happen?

"Phila."

The woman, Pila tensed before bowing her head, stepping back and muttered apologies.

"Thank you, however, yes. We do foresee a war and as such Ferox is more than willing to join the war as complete allies." I replied.

"That's wonderful! Emmeryn this is just what we need," Chrom smiled wide as he stepped forward.

Emmeryn grimaced at her brother's eagerness, her face tightening as she did so. "Chrom I will say this now as I have before and I shall do so in the days to come. I will not wage war against Plegia."

"Why not? Sis, they're slaughtering our people!" Chrom's voice rose as he asked.

"Because I will not have the blood of both countries on my hands when I have the power to prevent a war from occurring," Emmeryn replied serenely but a hidden steel laced her words.

Chrom stood there, his shoulders shaking slightly before they sagged. "I understand Emm…"

A relieved smile spread across her face, "Thank you Chrom."

"Please tell me I'm not the only one the feels really awkward for witnessing that?" I whispered to Lon'qu who nodded. "Wonderful."

"Now, where were we?" Emmeryn looked at me and smiled but shook her head, her curls bouncing. "I think we'll be fine with Ferox just protecting our citizens."

"No worries then, however, we'll still be keeping that offer open in any case," I replied. "In addition, Lon'qu and I shall be continuing to stay with the Shepherds for the duration that Ferox's forces are needed. Once Ferox is no longer need, we shall return back to our country. Is that acceptable?"

"I don't think I'm the one that you should be asking that with," Emmeryn turned to her brother. "What say you, Chrom? Will you allow them to stay with you?"

"Of course, they've both proven to be invaluable people, no matter how quirky Blanc may be." Chrom jibed.

I nodded at him. "Many thanks."

"However," Emmeryn spoke back up, "Once you return will that mean the end between the alliance between Ylisse and Ferox?"

"I don't believe so. I'll merely be returning but the alliance should still be remaining in full effect." I replied to the best of my knowledge.

"That truly is wonderful news. Thank you for representing Ferox. The both of you have my thanks," the Exalt smiled.

Lon'qu and I both bowed before being escorted out of the throne room.

* * *

"Holy shit, please never again…." I groaned as we exited the throne room.

"Huh?" Chrom looked at me.

"Never… ever… will I ever do something like that again! It was so stressful just talking to her!"

"What? Why? Emm's like the nicest person ever," Lissa was confused.

"It doesn't matter if she was the nicest person ever, I feel like if I said even the closest thing wrong I would've been killed by the collective conscience of all of Ylisse," I mumbled. "Did you know I almost shat myself when she started laughing!? I thought I said something wrong!"

"How vulgar…" Frederick muttered off to the side.

"I'm surprised," Chrom said, "You looked like you were doing quite well in there, to be honest."

I gave him a look. "Ask me to fight, no worries. Ask me to make something, no worries. Ask me to hold a diplomatic conversation where the alliance between two nations hang in the balance? I'm going to have a bit of a time trying not to cry and screw things up."

"Welll~" Lissa hopped up to me, "All's well that ends well. You did great Blanc."

"I certainly don't feel like it, my heart still feels like it's going a mile a minute," I muttered. "What's the time anyway? I'm starving."

"Uh…" Chrom looked around and noticed a nearby maid, grabbing her and asking her, the woman making a few motions and sounds before Chrom let her go. "It's almost dinner, so we should probably head back to the garrison."

Huh?

"Uh, Chrom?"

"Hmm?"

"Aren't you like a prince and Lissa's a princess? Shouldn't the both of you be eating here in the castle?" I asked.

Chrom shrugged. "I like eating with the Shepherds at times, it's calming" he replied before heading off with Frederick.

"He means all the time," Lissa whispered inconspicuously, "At least mostly when Sumia is there."

Thanks for the update Lissa, it's not like I can't tell how they both give each other googly-eyes or anything. "Is there a thing between the two? I mean I'm one of the new guys and all but even I can see there seems to be something there." I asked casually so as to not draw Chrom's attention

I'm being serious, for some reason, they both seemed to be giving each other googly-eyes whenever the other isn't looking or looking off into space. Especially Sumia. She'll stop whatever she's doing and start sighing at random intervals for a couple of seconds before continuing. It becomes really disconcerting whenever we're cooking. And considering me and her are the main chefs for some reason, it becomes quite noticeable.

"They both have a thing for each other but they're both dense as rocks so they don't notice," Lissa explained. "Chrom's too stubborn to really notice while Sumia's too stuck in her romance books to realize. The only way one of them will notice is if they get proposed to."

I held up my hand, stopping her. "Look Princess, I'm gonna stop you right there because I get the feeling if I let you continue we're going to be at this for the next hour."

"You're no fun you know that?" she pouted slightly.

"Hey, I'm lots of fun if you like to see things explode fabulously and me being sent flying in a blackened heap every time I fail with an experiment." I retorted

"…that sounds oddly specific," Lissa paused to give me a strange look.

"That because it's very specific to me. It's happened more times than I can count." I shrugged.

"So... ten?"

I gave her a scathing look to which she giggled innocently.

"I'm learning much too quickly that you have a sharp mouth on you… and that you don't conform to any previous princess-like notion I had of you."

Her boisterous laughter followed me long after I'd reached our quarters and entered the barracks.

* * *

(Later that night)

 _ **BANG BANG BANG**_

"Whuzzat?" My eyes open blearily from the series of knocks rattling my bedroom door.

"Blanc! It's Robin! We've got a meeting down in the dining room, all Shepherds are being briefed. Something's happened," Robin shouted from the other side of the door.

And assuming the other knocks from beside my room were also her, she was probably waking up everyone else as well.

With a few quick movements, putting on a pair of boots and changing my pants to something not resembling sleepwear, the shirt was fine since it was just a normal shirt, and I exited my room and found Donnel and Lon'qu doing the same.

"Wha's goin' on sir?" Donnel asked with a yawn.

My head shook, shaking away the dregs of sleep still there and answered his question. "No idea kid, but we'd better get down to the dining hall. Briefing is gonna happen soon."

The two nodded as we began heading down, reaching the room in but a couple of minutes. As we passed the entryway I hesitated for a second before sitting down next to Robin.

There was a small amount of noise as the rest of the Shepherds continued to enter in various states of disarray. Once everyone was seated and Chrom, Lissa, and Fredrick were the only one standing, Chrom took a deep breath.

Chrom looked each of the shepherds in the eye slowly, "My apologies for calling you all here for a briefing so late at night, I'm afraid something's happened."

"Captain?" Sumia called out.

"Sorry… it's just-" Chrom gave a quick intake of air as Frederick laid a hand on his shoulders.

I looked at Robin the same time she looked at me.

That wasn't a good sign.

"As I was saying something's happened," Chrom started once more. "Maribelle's been taken by Plegian forces."

A multitude of reactions occurred.

"What!?"

"How?"

On the other side of the table, Sumia quietly gasped while Lissa hiccupped with red teary eyes beside her brother.

Twice now this 'Maribelle' had been mentioned.

Chrom grimaced at their reactions. "Phila told me just a scant couple of hours ago after dinner that Plegian soldiers were sighted within the southwest Ylissean border. They attacked a village in Themis and abducted Maribelle."

That didn't make sense.

"What was their reasoning?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Chrom looked at me.

"I mean they can't just have attacked for any other reason. You said Plegian _soldiers_ , not bandits." I explained. "There can't have been an unreasonable attack by them, so far from both of our accounts, we've had plegian bandits and brigands attack and raid, there's been no exception of this. Neither of us have had soldiers attack, though."

Chrom gave a small pained but angry smile. "Phila reported that Gangrel says that the soldiers of Themis attacked first, that taking Maribelle is merely recompense till he has the chance to talk 'peace' with Emm," Chrom scowled.

"That sounds like a load of horse shit if you ask me," Sully spoke.

Chrom grimaced. "Indeed, but still Emmeryn chooses to stand by her own principles. Tomorrow she'll be heading off to the border pass where Gangrel mentioned he'll be lying in wait."

"That sounds much too like a trap to me," Robin stated while crossing her arms over her chest.

"That's what I said but once more she still chooses to go. Not that I blame her, Maribelle's life is in danger after all…" Chrom's eyes drifted off.

"What are we going to do?" Robin asked.

Chrom took another deep breath.

"Tomorrow at sunrise we march out with Emmeryn and the Pegasus knights to parley with Gangrel," Chrom spat out the name like acid. "We'll be acting as guards in the case things turn out the worst."

I didn't like the sound of this.

"Tonight, everyone packs their equipment, tomorrow we head out."

A resounding cheer echoed through he wooden barracks but I couldn't find it in me to cheer along. Even when Lon'qu smiled I felt like something was off.

* * *

Spreading my pack across the length of my bed I began listing off all the things I'd need in my head, ' _Clothes, new tent, etching equipment, boots, jars of spirit dust… I'll need to get some weapons from the armoury… I should also probably get-'_

 _ **Knock knock**_

My mental thought process was derailed as someone knocked on my open door and a familiar voice made itself known.

"You okay? You seemed pretty put out during the briefing."

I let out a sigh.

"Something just doesn't seem right about this…" I replied as Robin entered.

"Something doesn't seem right to you?"

I nodded.

"Before I fought in the Arena with Chrom I-I—" I stopped for a second, "I had a chat with Flavia."

"And?"

"I told her that something felt off with Plegia, with everything they've done so far." I explained.

"What do you mean?" Robin cocked her head cutely.

I turned around and sat on my bed, all my stuff pooling around me as I dipped into the mattress. "Do you know what Gangrel's moniker is? Why he's called it?" I asked her curiously.

"Of course," she gave me a confused look. "He's called the Mad King, he was called that because of his well-known bloodlust and thirst for war. They say it's the type only an insane man would have."

I shook my head at her description. "If that was true then why is Ylisse still standing?"

"Huh?" Robin looked at me in wonder.

"Why is Ylisse; the pacifistic country with next to no military might still standing when Plegia has the capability, manpower, and military might to crush this country to dust?" I questioned. "Why is the so-called 'Mad King' not just killing the same nation which only a generation prior shattered Plegia?" I continued to list off the many reasons that everything felt so _off_.

"Why is he willing to hold Maribelle hostage instead of just killing her? He has a viable reason to start a war after all." I reasoned.

I could see the gears in her head turning. "You think there's something more to Gangrel than what everyone's been lead to believe?"

I couldn't help but chuckle at how similar here thought process was to Flavia's just a month ago. "It's purely speculation on my part… but I believe there's something we don't know about. I don't know what it could be but there's something."

Robin nodded absentmindedly, her fingers curled around her chin in thought.

"…I'll take this into consideration when we march tomorrow. My apologies, but that's all I can do I'm afraid." Robin apologised.

I shook my head, "No need to apologize Miss, that's all I could ask for. These speculations of mine are merely that; speculations. Until the reasons are truly discovered it'd be best if we left it at that."

Robin smiled. It was a thing of beauty seeing her smile. Not a quirk of the lips because someone said something amusing, but just a plain and normal smile.

"It doesn't matter if they were speculations of yours or not, you still looked worried during the briefing. At least now you don't seem all grouchy-like," Robin cheered.

My head tilted almost automatically at her words. "Was I really grouchy?"

"Well probably not to the others but considering we were next to each other it was fairly easy for me to tell," Robin said.

"I see…" I couldn't help but notice how it felt as if a slight burden I hadn't known I was carrying in the back of my mind was eased. "I do suppose talking helped me quite a bit."

"Well that's all that matters then!" Robin leaned back with a hand on her hip and smiled.

Her bubbliness was almost infectious. "Thank you miss," I smiled.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," Robin waved. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight… Robin…"

* * *

 **AN: Yay chapter…. what is it ten now? Man, I'm actually surprised I've gotten this far with my story. There's actually a considerable amount of support being shown for this, and for that I'm glad.**

 **My apologies for the hastily written chapter, at least that's what I feel like it is. Similar to the "Things happen" chapter, I really needed to create some backstory to this already lengthy story.**

 **But next chapter is the Maribelle rescue and after that is the assassination!**

 **But beware of changes…**

 **Also, to the people still reading, have you noticed something** _ **off**_ **with Blanc? Like something that doesn't feel like he should be doing? Because there's definitely something that's not right with him but I'm wondering if anyone's actually noticed. It links back into something I wrote back in Chapter 1.**

 **Please read and review.**

 **Next chapter somewhere in two to three weeks.**


	11. Chapter 11: The Mad King?

**Two-Sided Awakening**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem nor anything belonging to them, that right belongs to Nintendo Systems. The only thing I own are my own original character/s and ideas I create for the story.**

 **Author's Note: Please read and review so I know what I should work on, if you're going to say things such as how it shouldn't be following canon, then just don't bother, I'm going to be ignoring those reviews from now on. Well, here we are with the eleventh chapter of 'Two-Sided Awakening'.**

 **Reviews -**

 **Wyattohart8: Well... ( Let's just leave it at that shall we;) )**

 **For those wanting to know how Blanc's name is pronounced it not pronounced like "Blank" but like "Bl-ahn".**

* * *

 **(3** **rd** **Person POV)**

"How's our stock and armoury looking? Were they refilled?" Robin asked while ticking away at a list in her hands.

"Indeed. They've been restocked, I saw to them personally," Frederick answered, his hands held behind his back with his feet shoulder-length apart.

"Thank you, Frederick," Robin nodded. "Has anyone seen to Blanc's weaponry? They should be particularly useful in this expedition."

Said white-haired man popped his head out of his room, who seemed to be in the middle or close to finishing ensuring all of his personal equipment was either kept with him or tucked away in his room. "All my stuffs with the armoury, I had Stahl assist me earlier so no need to worry about them," he replied as he closed his room.

"Great," Robin bobbed her head in thanks and checked off one last thing, "Now all we need is for everyone to get together."

"Well we still have another half hour or so before day breaks," Blanc shrugged as he nodded into the distance.

"I shall check if anyone else needs assistance, Robin, Blanc," Frederick inclined his head politely with a bow before walking away.

Robin watched him leave with a disheartened sigh, "Everyone's currently so high-strung and tense."

A pale brow rose. "You're surprised?"

Robin let out another sigh, "Not entirely… it's just that if we keep up like this we'll be broken before we even reach the negotiations."

"Well I can't exactly say that I blame them," Blanc responded as he leaned against the doorway, "I mean, Lissa seemed pretty bad last night along with some of the others, Maribelle's one of the shepherds. Add in the fact the Exalt herself is going to be negotiating, I'm surprised no one's already snapped."

Robin ran a hand through her hair with a snort, "It'll only be a matter of time before someone snaps."

"Two gold says it's you."

Robin gave him a look. "Really? Me? Must I remind you who snapped within the first day of staying with us?"

"Hey! You try being manhandled by a princess and a mage, both of whom are absurdly strong while dragging people!" Blanc pouted indignantly.

"Ha," Robin laughed, "Trust me I've been dragged too much to my liking, I know how strong Lissa is."

"Oh?" Blanc looked at her.

"Yeah, it was a couple of months ago back when I first joined, it was the first time I met the rest of the Shepherds actually," Robin recalled with a wistful smile. "Lissa grabbed me by the collar and bodily dragged me from the throne room all the way here, right in front of the Exalt."

"Sounds fun," Blanc robbed at her with a grin before wincing, "Also maybe a bit painful," he rubbed the back of his neck. "Just imagining the amount of chaffing you must've had sounds painful enough."

"Are you kidding? The sides of my neck were raw for a week! Imagine how it felt while we were walking to Ferox!" Robin said while looking at him dead in the eye before the both burst out laughing.

"Hahaha I'm sorry but just seeing you so serious about something like that," Blanc held his gut as laughs wracked his body. "It's just so cute! Like a tiny wolf cub…"

Robin cracked a grin at that.

"If the two of you are done laughing at my sister's expense, maybe we can head off?" a familiar voice interjected,

Chrom and Lissa approached the two, the smaller of the two pouting at Blanc and Robin who merely smiled sheepishly in return.

"Sorry about that Princess," Blanc apologised. "I was laughing at Miss, not you. Swear."

His words caused Robin's head to whip at him, "Really? That's your excuse?"

Blanc shrugged his shoulders, "Princess is a Princess, you're a tactician. Pretty sure I can handle you."

Robin rose an eyebrow at that and withdrew her trusty thunder tome, "You really want to test that?"

Blanc seemed nonplussed at her threatening gesture, "Need I remind you that if you miss you'll be setting the barracks on fire? Right when we need to leave?"

Robin hesitated.

"Remember the last time you tried to hit something with lightning and you missed?" Blanc questioned with a shit-eating grin causing Robin to reluctantly stow away her tome with a blush.

"You two done now? For real?" Chrom asked with a slight flush, the memory of an incident he'd much rather forget resurfacing "Or must I leave the two of you behind?"

Blanc and Robin looked at each other before looking back at him.

"We'll behave," they said in tandem.

"That's sort of creepy," Lissa muttered.

Chrom rolled his eyes but nodded in agreement.

"Well then! Is everyone set to go? It's going to be a long march through the western mountains till we reach the border after all."

Robin nodded and presented Chrom with her list which he was quick to scroll through. "Armoury and inventory were stocked courtesy of Frederick and our specialised weapons from Blanc are also stocked with the armoury equipment. Food surplus is also ready with our camp equipment," Robin rattled off. "We're ready to head out on your command."

Chrom smiled at her, "Thanks Robin, it's nice to be prepared. We'll be leaving soon so we should get everyone to meet soon."

Robin and Blanc nodded at his words.

A young boy with reddish hair hidden under a comical hat ran up to the quartet. "Captain! I'm all packed! When do we leave?!"

Chrom recoiled at the sight of the young mage. "Ricken? When did you-" he cut himself and closed his eyes before opening them and looking at him. "Ricken just go back inside, you're not old enough for this mission."

Ricken's face fell. "But, Captain!" he protested, "You know my skill with magic! You know I can handle myself!"

Chrom grimaces at his rebuttal. "Ricken it's not that I don't know your skill or how well-equipped you are. It's the simple fact you're so young, I don't want to be bringing someone like you to a march like this."

"Captain I know what I signed up for when I joined the Shepherds," Ricken shook his head. "I can handle this."

"It's no matter of whether you can or cannot handle, but a simple fact that I don't _want_ you to have to handle what we do," Chrom pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "Ricken, no one your age should have to be forced to kill."

"But Captain, I-"

"I said "no', Ricken!" he bellowed shutting the boy off. Taking a deep breathe he opened his eyes. "I said "no"." Chrom seemed to hold the weight of the world as he told the young boy.

Ricken looked at the ground guiltily.

"How old is he?"

"Huh?" Chrom looked at Blanc, confusion evident in his eyes.

"How old is he?" Blanc repeated.

"What do you me- no… you're not doing this again," Chrom crossed his arms in an X once he realised what Blanc was insinuating once more. "I was fine with Donnel, but I am _not_ allowing Ricken to join us."

"Chrom… he's going to end up following us with or without our permission," Blanc bluntly replied causing the young boy to look at him in shock.

"Wha- how'd you know?!" he shrieked.

"You have the same stubborn look as I person I know, she wouldn't take no for an answer," Blanc replied before adding quietly, "Especially when it came to eating vegetables…"

Chrom looked down at the young mage. "Ricken…" he said slowly, "Is he right? Were you actually going to try and follow us."

Ricken tilted his head downwards in guilt, a silence surrounding the five. "Maybe…"

"Tch… dammit," Chrom cursed.

"Look Chrom, like he said, he's already one of the Shepherds. If he follows us, we have no control over his actions or what he may end up doing, but if we have him join us at least we'll be able to know where and what he's doing," Blanc reasoned with him.

"Fine…" Chrom finally let out a sigh causing Ricken to look up at him. "Ricken you can come but you'll be staying with Stahl and Sully for the duration of the march and in the rear-lines during negotiations. Am I clear?"

Ricken's grinning face was enough to light up a room… and probably light it on fire as well.

"Yes sir!" he said before toddling off with the pack on his back, looking almost akin to a turtle.

Chrom let out a long sigh and glared at Blanc. "I'm starting to get sick of how you're convincing me to let people join left and right."

Blanc gave him an unconvincingly innocent look, "Why Prince I have nary a clue what you mean. Ricken _is_ as Shepherd after all, I was merely… ensuring all hands were on deck, so to speak."

Meanwhile Robin and Lissa were whispering to each other. "What do you think would happen if we let Blanc do the negotiations? He's pretty good with his words. You should've seen him talking to Emm," Lissa whispered causing Robin to look at her in wonder and a tinge of fear.

"Blanc? Negotiating?" Robin double checked with the spritely blonde. "The same man who dug a trench outside the barracks and had Chrom and Frederick chase you as you ran circles around them?"

Robin fake-shivered at the devastation the white-haired man would leave in his wake if he was left unchecked, much less negotiating between a king and the exalt. "Just thinking about it gives me shivers."

"Well after he did end up admitting he was close to passing out in fear," Lissa giggled, "We all thought he was really good at negotiating, just turned out he was so scared to say the wrong thing."

"I'm right here you know?" Blanc spoke up.

Lissa and Robin looked at each other, then back at him.

"We know."

* * *

(Two days later – Ylissean/Plegian Border)

"Two figures, north-east atop a vantage rock formation," Blanc reported as he walked alongside Emmeryn and Phila who were in turn a few paces further than Chrom, Lissa, and Robin. "One's wearing a crown so it's safe to assume that one's King Gangrel. The other figure I'm unsure of, female judging by her figure, in addition to having white-hair."

"Thank you Blanc for your services," Emmeryn thanked him to which he gave a slight nod and returned back a couple paces beside Robin.

"It sort of creeps me out how good your eyesight is," Robin remarked as he re-joined them.

"A small mercy but one I'm much rather inclined to keep," Blanc responded but kept his eyes locked on the two figured above.

It was a couple of minutes before they finished their approach in the middle of border valley, Gangrel and his companion overlooking the Exalt and Shepherds.

"Well well well, what'd we have here? The exalt herself, in all her radiance?" a slightly masculine voice called out from above.

"Gangrel…" Chrom growled out, his hand instinctively resting upon Falchion's hilt.

"Chrom…" Robin spoke warningly as Emmeryn looked back at them. With a pause Chrom dropped his hand but left it hanging close to his sword.

Gangrel continued and cackled, "I fear I'll soon have to shield my eyes! Bwahahaha!"

"King Gangrel," unflinchingly Emmeryn stepped forward and addressed him. "I've come to hear for myself the truth of this unfortunate incident between us."

Instead of Gangrel responding, it was his companion instead. "The truth? I can give you the _truth_ ," the woman beside the Mad King spat out.

Emmeryn, startled by her sudden interference, frowned, "Mayhaps milady might share her name with myself?"

"Aversa…" the now named Aversa replied after a moment of consideration, "My name is Aversa."

Emmeryn inclined her head ever-so slightly in thanks, "Vey well, Aversa. May I inquire as to whether Maribelle is unharmed?"

"Tch…" Gangrel's face scrunched up as her question. "That little blonde brat? Fret not I haven't touched nary a hair on her head _your exaltedness_." His words dripped laced with acid.

With a motion of his hand a Plegian soldier stepped out from one of the outcrops with Maribelle in hand, unharmed just as Gangrel had told.

"Maribelle!" Lissa shouted at the sight of her friend, "Are you alright?"

She didn't respond, instead choosing to stare at her feet.

"Maribelle?" Lissa whispered fearfully.

"What have you done to her Gangrel?" Emmeryn's tone was almost palpable with a hidden temper.

"ME!?" Gangrel yelled, his voice becoming almost feral before he took a deep breath and looked at the Exalt. "I've done nary a thing wrong your grace. This one merely knows what she's done wrong."

"What do you mean?" Emmeryn questioned.

Gangrel looked down at her in contempt, "Four days ago some of my soldiers were hunting down escaped convicts… they made their way past the border before finding them in Themis. Deciding to do this peacefully, they were sent under orders to negotiate a truce till the convicts were found and returned to Plegia."

Leaning forward Gangrel spat at her, "Do you know what happened the moment my men tried to negotiate? The moment WE stepped foot into the village of Themis?"

"Duke Themis slaughtered my men, sent me back their heads in a sack and spat in my face. The so called peaceful Ylisse is a hypocritical haven of liars." Gangrel crowed.

"Bullshit they did! You're lying!" Chrom yelled, his thin patience snapping at the Mad King's words.

"QUIET!" Gangrel roared.

Chrom faltered.

"YOU LITTLE PRINCELING KNOW NOT OF WHAT YOUR MEN DID TO ME AND MINE! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE WHAT YOU HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING OF!" Gangrel bellowed, spittle flying in his rage, a blazing ire burning hot in his eyes.

"Gangrel! Peace!" Emmeryn tried placatingly, "Perhaps we can find a way to ascertain the truth of this unfortunate incident peacefully?"

"'Unfortunate'? That's what you'd call this?" The king's voice was almost a quiet whisper, but a whisper that was still heard. "One of your subjects, a duke at that, slaughtered a whole platoon of MY men when we tried to do things your way… but in the end you're no better than your father."

Emmeryn reeled back as if she'd been physically struck.

"I was there when my men were butchered like cattle _Exalt_ ," Gangrel said, "But of course… why would you believe me?"

Gangrel flicked his head at his soldier.

The soldier holding Maribelle walked her forward.

"If you want your 'truth'… then just ask."

With a swift hand Maribelle's binding were cut causing her to fall like a puppet cut of its strings. The only thing preventing her from falling was the fact that Lissa rushed forward to catch her.

"Mari?! Mari, are you, all right? Maribelle answer me!" Lissa pleaded almost frantically to her friend as the daughter of Duke Themis latched onto her and buried her face in Lissa's dress.

"Maribelle?" Emmeryn walked forward warily to the two and crouched beside them.

With a sniff she looked up at the Exalt with teary and puffy eyes.

"I'm sorry your Grace…" Maribelle whispered, "Everything he's said… it's all true."

For Emmeryn, it was as if the world had been pulled from beneath her feet and turned into an eternal darkness. "Oh Naga…" she whispered, "Did Duke Themis truly…?"

Maribelle merely nodded before burying her face back in Lissa dress.

With a heavy sigh she stood back up. "Thank you, Maribelle, you can return with the others now…"

"Thank you, Your Grace."

As the two walked off Emmeryn couldn't help but fell as if everything she'd worked so hard for was falling around her. With a weary heart she looked up at Gangrel who's been watching the scene with a disgusted look on his face.

* * *

(Blanc's POV)

"Thank you, Maribelle…." I watched as Emmeryn gave a gentle pat on the girl's back before motioning to us. "You can return to the others now…"

"Thank you, your Grace."

With a nod she and Lissa moved over to us causing some of the others to move forward and assist as Emmeryn looked forward.

"How utterly vomit-worthy," Gangrel drawled out. "Now then, have you found the truth behind this 'unfortunate incident' as you're so liable to call it?"

Emmeryn nodded with a grimace. "I have King Gangrel… and I'd like to apologize for the actions of my subject, i-"

"Your apologies mean nothing to me woman," Gangrel words were like swords, swift and cutting. "Your words can't bring back the lives of my men," he finished, his eyes ablaze before they dulled.

"With what's been done I'm well within my rights to finish this parley and move straight to razing each of your villages to the ground.

The muscles within my body tensed as I noticed soldiers moving slowly through the woodworks and overlaying rock formations, none with weapons drawn but still there nonetheless.

"I- you're right, nothing can bring back your men, and for the I apologize…" Emmeryn bowed, "Is there any way we'd be able to prevent a war between us however?"

Gangrel's eyes were almost like stone, dull and grey as he looked at her. "There are only two things in this world that would prevent war between us…"

"And that would be?"

"Your life…"

Everyone, especially Chrom drew their weapons. I myself drew one of my lances, wind gushing from the runes ready to pierce any that eve dared to aprroach. Emmeryn looked largely unconcerned but shook her head at us, a sign to put away our weapons. With a pause we were torn between indecision of whether to follow her orders or not.

In the end we sheathed our weapons letting them continue however unwilling we were.

"If my life would be enough to pacify you then I'd more than gladly give it to you," Emmeryn said unwaveringly shocking Chrom and Lissa.

"Sis!"

"Emm, you can't be serious about this?!" Chrom shouted.

The serene blonde looked at her siblings and smiled. "Chrom if my life will be what prevents a war between our nations than I would gladly give it for the sake of peace."

"Emmeryn," he growled, "You may be willing but I'm not!"

"Oh, will the both of you stop being so melodramatic and allow me to finish?" Gangrel drawled imperiously. "I do have a second option after all."

I took note of how his subordinate, Aversa, minutely tensed by his side.

"And what would be King Gangrel that you ask for, if it was not to be my life?" the Exalt asked quietly, looking away from Chrom and Lissa.

Gangrel's eyes dulled but his smile widened, showing his pearly white teeth.

"Give me the Fire Emblem and I'll spare Ylisse and its people," Gangrel proposed. "In exchange for the Fire Emblem, the bonds between our nations shall be considered to be… repaired... as it would be in full."

I watched him carefully for any signs of trickery. Something like this? An item for the lives of his men sounded to good to be true especially considering how heated he'd been about their deaths.

A distraction to throw us off guard maybe?

"Concentrate Blanc," Robin whispered behind my ear. "We need all hands on board, don't start thinking over other things."

I nodded and took in the border pass once again. My eyes were once more drawn to Aversa, her stance relaxed and languid compared to before.

The same feeling of unease I'd had ever since the topic of the Mad King was brought up lingered whenever I looked at the scantily clad dark-skinned, busty and ashen-haired woman. And not a good type of feeling either like the type one would have when thinking of that description.

Emmeryn inhaled sharply at his demands, "You would ask for one of Ylisse's royal treasures? But why?"

"Because I know the legend!" Gangrel's eyes were almost crazed, "The Fire Emblem is the key to having all one's wishes realised. I have desired for the years since I've known. YEARS!" he cackled. "…Yet tis' most woeful that my birthday comes and goes each year, yet still nothing from Ylisse… hehehe…" Gangrel's manic smile would be unsettling for most, but for me it just seemed strange.

His eyes were _almost_ crazed.

But they definitely weren't.

Maybe I was looking for too much into everything, but everything he just said seemed scripted. Every word, every laugh, and every cackle he made was devoid of their commonly associated tones, instead replaced by an almost monotone inflection with merely a pale mirror of thier intended emotions as each syllable leaving his mouth.

Emmeryn looked up at him as if her face had been sewn from solid stone. "The Emblem's power is meant for a single purpose, King Gangrel: to save the world and its people at their hour of most desperate need. Would you claim a more noble wish?"

"I merely want what every Plegian wants – a grisly end for every last Ylissean! What could be a more noble cause than that!?" If it could have, Gangrel's mouth would've stretched even further.

No matter how much I felt of the matter, it felt almost unreal to hear those words spill from his mouth. To hear someone so casually talk about genocide would shock anyone to the core.

And I definitely was not withstanding.

"I'm sorry but did you just say your wish is to say every last one of my people dead?" Emmeryn asked horrified.

"Indeed," the Mad King nodded viciously. "Surely you've not forgotten what the previous Exalt had done to my people? Your father named us heathens for no reason other than that we were different!" Gangrel yelled, the fire in his eyes returning.

Gangrel's skin was slowly turning red, it's normal pallid tone being overcome with a heavy flush as he bellowed, "His so-called 'crusade' was a mere charlatan to butcher and massacre my people, the countless lives of my subjects and kin for the fact we were Plegian! All because of your father's arrogance and self-entitlement!"

Further in front I watched as Emmeryn grimaced with each word that flew from his mouth, Chrom's gloves squeaking as his fists balled, the leather straining beneath his slowly boiling anger.

With a weary sigh Emmeryn spoke. "King Gangrel, I've never been one to deny Ylisse's past wrongdoings. But I've sworn to never repeat those mistakes," she looked up at him determinedly. "Ours is now a realm of peace."

"Yours is haven of hypocrisy is what it is," Gangrel said blandly, his tone almost defeated. "You speak about peace yet your own men want a war."

"King Gangrel Plea-" Emmeryn tried once more to parley with him but even I could tell he'd had enough.

"No."

Gangrel cut her off.

"I've had enough of this. Hand over the Fire Emblem or there shall be war. This is my ultimatum, the Fire Emblem or the lives of your people." Gangrel spoke plainly, the harsh fire in his eyes replaced by near dull and glassy eyes, as if he was repeating rehearsed words.

Emmeryn looked torn between whether to save the lives of her people and prevent war or to lose the royal treasure.

Unfortunately, her choice was made for her.

"Enough of this charade," Aversa spoke up much to the shock of her king. "Men, attack!"

It was so abrupt that nearly everyone had no idea what to do once the soldiers skulking in the woodworks came rushing out.

"Shepherds to arms!" Chrom yelled, everyone bearing their armaments. I lashed out with my spear, quickly sending a soldier to the ground as the butt of my spear against the cranium of his helm.

"Wait! Everyone no harming the soldiers! Don't kill them!" Emmeryn pleaded among the chaos, but her words nonetheless registering and making the fight infinitely harder.

"Everyone, to the Exalt!" Robin yelled amidst the sudden flurry of weaponry, sparks and steel. I gave her a brief nod before blocking an incoming axe with the flathead of my spear, parrying the axe aside sending it and its wielder flying to the side.

"Robin…" Chrom growled as we circled around his sister, soldiers surrounding us slowly. "What's the plan?"

"We need to get back to Ylisse as fast as we can, would you be able to work around that?" I shouted as another axe tried to make its way through, my spear managing to stop it but not before it cleaved its way through the shaft. "Tch…" I clicked my tongue and discarded the headless portion but kept the spearheaded side.

"There are multiple exits away from here to the north, we need to get through their soldiers to make it through though," Robin quickly said.

Roars broke off into the air to the north, the same area Robin aforementioned.

"Thing is I'm pretty sure they've brought wyvern riders along with them," she finished.

"Plan, Robin!" Chrom grunted as he knocked out a soldier, the other shepherds doing the same, ensuring not to injure the Plegians too much.

"Phila!" Robin shouted at the Pegasus commander, "Take Emmeryn and get her out of here to the east and get to the border patrol as fast as you can! We're sitting ducks if we keep her here!"

"Aye!" Phila saluted and quickly landed beside Emmeryn.

"Wai-" Emmeryn tried.

"Lady Emmeryn I apologize but we don't exactly have the time to stand on words, you need to leave now!" I shouted at her, my spearhead slowly being whittled away with each approaching soldier.

Chrom looked over to his sister, "Emm, please."

"Very well," she gave up. "Stay safe everyone."

We nodded.

With a spur Phila was airborne with Emmeryn.

"What now Robin?" Chrom asked as he slashed at a myrmidon, their swords clashing for a moment before Falchion twisted in his hands and slid along the length of his opponent's blade, and colliding against his helm, leaving him out cold.

Quickly the Shepherds spread back out, Sully, Stahl and Frederick swiftly getting upon their steeds while Virion provided covering fire with his arrows. Lon'qu was busy protecting Lissa while Miriel and Ricken provided literal covering fire, swaths of encroaching flamed preventing the Plegian soldiers from advancing.

I'm pretty sure the resident ghost was protecting Maribelle considering I saw a couple of soldiers being thrown by the scruffs of their armour as they tried to approach the daughter of Duke Themis.

"Now…" Robin began and withdrew her thunder tome, "Now we run."

"I can get behind that," I grunted, a brief reprieve thanks to the efforts of Ricken and Miriel. "We just have a problem of their wyvern riders, if we don't take them out they're going to be a bit of a problem since they'll be able to follow us for great lengths."

Chrom gave me a slightly hopeful look, "You wouldn't happen to have anything for this would you? Like maybe something that'd be able to take them out of commission but not incurably wound them?"

I snorted. "Prince I'm no miracle worker. I can take them out for good yeah, but I won't be able to take them out temporarily without grievously injuring them," I told him, hefting a lance strapped to my lower back.

Chrom grimaced.

The odds certainly weren't looking good for us.

"Wait your lances, how many of them do you have?" Robin asked.

"Somewhere around twelve of them?" I replied, motioning to the eight strapped on the bandolier attached to my lower back, "I had Donnel and Sumia carry two each, I wasn't able to get Frederick or Sully equipped before we left, why?"

Robin looked over in the directions of the wyvern riders hovering over the northern sections of the border pass.

"Do you think you'd be able to ground them? Maybe ride with Sumia and get in close to nick their wings?" Robin slowly began strategizing in her head, a plan forming together. "Not enough to permanently ground them but maybe enough to fell them for now while we escape?"

I thought it over. Technically wyverns don't need a majority of their wingspan, only about eight percent of it, however, if their wings were penetrated right through the centre they'd lose most of their flight capabilities since they length of the wings were used for gliding and pushing against air currents. Holes would make it near impossible for them to fly.

Nicking their wings with the lances were feasible options to shock them and ground them before they'd realised what's happened.

Only one problem.

"I'm not exactly sure how steady my aim would be atop a Pegasus, too many variables to take into account when throwing my lances. Things ranging from changing wind currents due to their beating wings, altitude changes, and shifts in mobile platform," I shook my head.

Robin cursed at that, "Damn it."

I looked at the wyverns. They were stationed directly atop an outcrop between the two exits just hovering there.

"Miss, I might be able to take them out if I can get close enough."

Eyes narrowed at my statement. "How close would you need to be?"

"A kilometre or two away?"

"A kilo- that's at most half the distance between us and them! That's pretty far, I thought you said you needed to be close?"

"'Close' is a relative term when in the face of enemy forces," I stated blandly.

"Okay then… we should be able to do that…" Robin nodded slowly. "Chrom we've got a plan, we're making a push for the northern exits, once we're about a kilometre away Blanc should be able to take out the wyverns."

Chrom narrowed at her strategy, taking deep breathes as Miriel and Ricken's still ongoing flames blocked off the enemies. "Robin you're banking too much on Blanc's capabilities, there's too many variables."

"I know Chrom but right now it's the best plan we've got," Robin grit out as Miriel and Ricken were slowly being backed into a corner, joining in and adding in her own fire. "Virion should be able to help take out one or two but right now Blanc and maybe any other lance throwers we have are our best bet of taking out those wyverns."

"Also, if Ricken still has energy after this then he'll be able to do the most damage to grounding them with his Elwind tome but that's not a guarantee…" I tacked on.

"Fine," Chrom let out before rallying the Shepherds. "Shepherds, to me! We head northbound, all lancers get one of the modified lances and try aiming for the wyverns if possible. Virion, try and ground as many as you can!" Chrom ordered.

He turned to me as everyone rushed around and grabbed a lance from Donnel, Sumia, or I. "Blanc, you're sure you'll be able to ground them?"

I cocked my head, "Not a hundred-percent but I'll be able to take down two at least if everything goes well."

He rose an eyebrow. "If they don't?"

"Well…" I gave him a grin, "If things don't end well… think of it like this, we either do it right or suddenly it's no longer our problem."

"I'm really starting to hate your strange sense of humour."

"Hey, you were the one that asked," I pointed out still grinning causing him to give his own in return.

"That I did, Blanc. That I did…" Chrom shook his head.

"All right, on my mark Miriel, Ricken, and I will stop and board with either Sully, Sumia, or Stahl and recover," Robin began ordering as she sustained the fire, Miriel and Ricken quickly burning themselves out, "Virion you'll be with Maribelle, hopefully it'll get you closer to take them out. Everyone else is on foot, ready?"

" **READY!"** everyone chorused as we readied.

"GO!"

The flames sputtered out as the magic sustaining it cut off, Ricken and Miriel boarding with Sully and Stahl respectively whilst Robin clambered atop Sumia's Pegasus with her assistance.

In an instant the battle to survive had begun

Even if we were only running away.

* * *

(3rd Person POV)

As Robin finished struggling to get a hold atop Sumia's Pegasus even with her help, she began surveying the battlefield from up in the air.

"Sumia, you take the east and let me know of any anomalies, I'll take care of the west side," she ordered.

"Aye ma'am!"

As Robin looked over the battlefield she noticed that the enemy lines were slowly congregating to the east and west sides of the border pass, leaving the northern and southern exits free.

"Robin are you seeing this?" Sumia called out in confusion.

"If you mean how the enemy seems to be funnelling us?" Robin asked, "Than yes, I'm definitely seeing them… what the hell are they doing?"

"Take us higher…" Robin ordered.

"Ma'am?"

"I need to get higher, this isn't making sense at all," Robin wracked her head for answers.

With a nod Sumia began to ascend, the wingbeats of her Pegasus bringing her high and higher till the battlefield was nearly have its visible size.

Taking another look at the battlefield Robin wondered what they were playing at. "Sumia, do you see anything? I can't see any reason for them to do that…"

"Robin… I think I know why they're doing it…" Sumia whispered.

"Sumia?" Robin asked and looked at her, before moving to where she was looking.

In the distance was Ylisstol in its shining splendour to the North, and to the south-east was what she could only presume to be Plegia's castle.

Then it hit her. They were at the border pass.

The _border_ pass.

If Ylisstol was to the north, and Plegia was to the south than it meant to the east and west was the border crossing.

And with it the Ylissean border patrols.

The same border patrols which were currently being pre-emptively blocked by enemy forces.

Robin cursed, things definitely weren't looking good. The border patrols wouldn't be able to reliably help them with the interference of the soldiers, to their backs was Plegia itself while to the front they'd be pursued by wyvern riders all the way to Ylisstol if they weren't taken out.

They were being forced to either Ylisstol or Plegia by themselves.

No reinforcements would be able to make their way to them, only two ways to escape and one would lead straight to the heart of enemy territory.

"Sumia get us back down, we need to take out the wyverns fast," Robin commanded, the silverette already in mid-dive before she'd finished her order. As they fast approached the battlefield, Robin noticed that most of the Shepherds had already crossed the halfway mark.

* * *

"Milord, we're too big of a host to successfully take out the enemy," Frederick spoke stiffly atop his steed.

"Yeah," Chrom nodded, "We'll need to split up into smaller groups if we want to make it past them, if we stay bunched up as we are they'll just be able to surround us again."

"Keep in mind if we split up it also increases the risk of small groups being targeted one-by-one," Blanc pointed out as they ran through the valley's multiple chasms.

Frederick shook his head, "But in turn they'll also have to split off their forces to get to us, smaller enemy forces for smaller teams."

"Fair point," he conceded before turning to the blue-haired prince, "It's your call Prince."

Chrom thought it over for a moment.

"We'll split off into groups, one lancer per group," he ordered. "Ricken and Miriel, you two will be staying with Stahl and Maribelle. Frederick with me while everyone else sorts themselves out."

With a moment to get in order everyone fell in line, smaller fireteams spread out and moving through the canyon.

"Well looks like this is starting to become a thing between us," Blanc grinned at Lon'qu and Lissa, the former merely grunting as he guarded Lissa but also tried his best to stay away as far as possible whilst the spritely girl gave a small giggle and grin.

"Yep, all we're missing is Robin and we'd be all set!" the little girl chirped.

"You're forgetting the coffee," Blanc reminded as they moved, his lance glowing dully in his hand.

"Please no…" was Lon'qu's barely audible reply, but in the wide-open space it was definitely heard.

It was so audible Lissa leaned forward to look at him as they walked.

"Hmmm…"

"Gah! Away with you woman!"

It didn't take two and two to figure out who said what.

It was only a moment before Lissa looked back at the white-haired tinkerer, a grin on her face.

"Let's see what Lon'qu's like on coffee!"

Blanc gave her a look, "I know I've been told I'm fairly absent-minded and what not but yeesh, this is the first I've seen someone so lackadaisical on a battle field."

Lon'qu thanked his lucky stars that Blanc decided now to be professional.

"Buuuut it would be pretty funny… maybe when we get back?"

"Yessss!" Lissa cheered.

Maybe not.

Lon'qu grunted sourly as he watched enemies march from a nearby outcrop, arrows flying through the air, "Enemies incoming…"

"You two are just a riot, one's as cheery as the sun while you're about as expressive as a brick," Blanc rolled his eyes as he watched both wyvern riders approach swiftly.

"Remember no killing."

Lon'qu grunted, "Same to you."

Blanc readied himself, concentrating solely on the two wyverns approaching.

Gales of wind curled around the head of his lance, winds gushing and pushing, an almost imperceptible cone of whirling wind sheathing the length of his hand and the lance itself.

Taking a deep breathe Blanc planted himself into the ground.

' _Breathe'_

Blanc took another breath, inhaling as the rider made his approach. Behind him Lissa readied her staff while Lon'qu ran forward and began engaging the remaining soldiers, his outstanding skills with the blade shining through.

' _Aim'_

It was as if time began to slow, everything crawling to a stop as the sound of heartbeat pulsed. In the corner of his eyes, the wind around the lance began to slow in beat with the thrum of his heart.

His eyes strained as he concentrated on the outer membrane of the wyvern's wing. Not enough to damage it but enough to leave a pissed rider and a _very_ angry grounded wyvern.

' _Fire'_

In slow-motion his arm began to move through the air, the grip around the lance loosening till it was barely held on by the scant grip of his finger-tips.

Time resumed.

Like a glowing green bolt of light, the lance shot from his hand the instant it left his fingertips. The wind roared as it was pushed out of the way like a swimmer through water or a blade through flesh. Like the hammer of a god it flew straight and true. Like an arrow shot along the currents of wind it disappeared, it's material form disintegrating till it was a mass of green light and reappearing in the mountain behind enemy lines.

With a mighty crash they fell. The wyvern and its rider fell to the ground with a scream, a half-circle gouged out through the edge of it's right wing.

"...Impressive," Lon'qu wasn't one to give praise but even he had to admit Blanc would make an excellent sniper with his accuracy.

Grasping another of his lances Blanc hauled it to his side and repeated, time slowing down for a scant second before it resumed.

A second bolt of verdant light lanced through the air.

A second rider and his mount fell to the ground sporting a half-circle hole.

Blanc stood back up from his throwing position with his outstretched arm and withdrew a standard-issue spear.

"Time to get to work."

* * *

After a long battle Blanc finally let down his spear with an ehausted sigh as Lissa began the process of healing a long gouging wound on Lon'qu's chest, a lucky blow from a barbarian eliciting a small hiss/grunt from the brown-haired man as his skin knit back together.

The sound of beating wings came down from above.

"I'm glad you three are okay," Robin said as she dismounted from Sumia's Pegasus, said woman still holding the reigns tightly.

"Could've been better," Blanc responded as he walked over to his lances and grasped onto it, tugging at its places embedded into the mountainside. "We the first or have you visited the others yet?"

Robin shook her head, "Everyone else's already finished up so we need to regroup."

With a heave both lances came free, quickly finding their way back into their holsters. Blanc gave a nod as Lissa and Lon'qu stood up, the wound on his chest gone.

"Let's go then."

If one looked closer that would've noticed blood pooling on the floor, blood dripping from Blanc's side for every step he took.

If one waited they'd have noticed the blood slowly stopping, coming to a halt as it seemingly stopped bleeding.

But no one did.

* * *

As the three approached the remainder of the Shepherds at the border outpost (Robin and Sumia having left them behind to rendezvous with the others and report back) Lissa was swept up in a big hug by Maribelle, the woman in question fretting over the princess while the princess fretted over her in return.

"Maribelle, you're okay!" Lissa said as she hugged her friend.

"Indeed, I am," Maribelle confirmed, "More than I can say, however, for our enemies."

She took quick notice of, however, the fact that Phila and Emmeryn descended from the sky coming to a stop beside the group. Relinquishing her hold on the princess, not before giving one last hug, she approached the Exalt and knelt.

"Your Grace…" Maribelle spoke slowly, "I apologize for my actions, I fully accept it consequences and the punishments befitting my crimes."

Emmeryn looked down at her.

"Maribelle…" she spoke causing the young girl to look at her, her golden drills framing her delicate face as she looked upon the Exalt.

"If the crime of your Father's actions were to fall to you along with its punishment than I'd have to take up my Father's," Emmeryn said gently. "Fret not, you are under no punishment from myself."

"Thank you, Your Grace," Maribelle bowed before returning to Lissa's side and hugging her.

Looking around Emmeryn found her brother standing off to the side with Frederick and Robin.

"I'm glad everyone made it here safely," Emmeryn smiled at the three.

Chrom gave her a strained smile, wincing at the earlier engagements. "It wasn't exactly easy Emm… especially not with your orders."

Emmeryn grimaced. "I'm sorry Chrom, truly I am… but I couldn't allow you to kill them, not when we've already killed so many of theirs."

"I know Emm… I know… it's just…" Chrom sighed.

"We're at war now."

Emmeryn nodded causing a silence to overcome the group.

Shaking her head, she gave her brother a smile, giving a similar smile to the rest of the Shepherds.

"I think it's time we go back home…" Emmeryn's radiated a sense of comfort and security as she spoke to them.

The voyage back home while not silent didn't change the relieved atmosphere within the group, wholly content on ignoring the looming threat of war in favour of focusing on the present.

* * *

 **AN: Normally I'd say 'Yay! Eleventh chapter' or some shit. But I can't, in all honesty I fucking hate this chapter. It was as if this chapter was fighting tooth and nail, trying it's damned hardest not to work with me as I changed the canon script.**

 **Yes, the ideas in mind were unique-ish, y'know the whole humanizing Gangrel, making changes to the dialogue which ends up having far-reaching consequences later on and completely changing the contact between Plegia and Ylisse. Instead of having Plegia invade Ylisse, it was Themis that killed Plegian soldiers.**

 **Because of these changes the subsequent writing became so damn hard to write and I absolutely hate it.**

 **I'll go back and touch up on everything making sure everything is correct but ultimately won't change anything since it sets up things for later.**

 **I feel like halfway through I lost every character's personality and it felt like the dialogue was forced. If you actually like this chapter let me know with a review because I seriously can't fucking see any redemption with this one.**

 **This is the first chapter I've ever written that I genuinely had a writer's block taking two weeks to write.**

 **Hopefully the next one comes out better.**

 **Rant over.**

 **On a side note I've taken note that as I've begun writing my University studies have begun to decline, something I'm going to remedy immediately. From this chapter forth I will be taking two to three weeks to write each chapter, ensuring that while they are of good quality, I also don't end up neglecting my studies.**

 **sideside note: Probs won't update for a month because uni exams are coming up. Might end up finishing of the haldf chapter I have but no guarantees,**


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